Friends Before Enemies
by GoogelehGoo
Summary: Genesis and Angeal are stepping into their dreams of becoming SOLDIER operatives and they're meeting a familiar figure on the way through. Note: Rated M for unpredictable behavior from author.
1. Chapter 1

Friends Before Enemies

Disclaimer: I do not own any Final Fantasy characters, Square Enix does.

Warning: I have no idea what I'm doing with this fic. It may be dirty, it may not be. It's going to be an adventure for all of us!

This will be a story about Genesis, Sephiroth, and Angeal and their weird friendship. Enjoy!

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_I remember the very first time I saw a picture of Sephiroth. He looked slightly timid, as if camera-shy and had that innocence about him. The article spoke words of his excelling strength and miraculous talents that he used in our many battles, fighting the war that we've caused upon ourselves. I think about how it listed his age, one that matched my own, and how it commented that he kept to himself and was an intelligent young man. It went into details on SOLDIER, an elite fighting group that reigned far beyond any army upon the Planet. And all of those little details started to click together for me. I started to dream. I dreamt of being in SOLDIER, in Sephiroth's position, feeling the adoring gaze of the citizens of the Planet, and I felt the warm embrace of gratitude for doing my duty. I felt like I was the protector of something terribly fragile, that not anyone could do this job aside from myself. I dreamt that my power was above and beyond, and that I could face up against the worst challenges._

_I had a dream, and I wanted to make it come true. I spoke to my childhood friend, Angeal, about this dream. This belief that there was more out there than what we were living. We weren't made to be apple farmers and juice makers. We were meant to be like this guy, this Sephiroth. We could do it._

_It took him a few weeks to absorb my words. He was always the type to think things over thoughtfully, weaving out the pros and cons of every step and calculating every detail of the future we were to have. But it was the one day that Banora had gone blissfully quiet, only the night bugs calling out their songs that he had brought up my proposition. I remember the exact words he had said to me._

"_Well, partner, I think we'll be heading to Midgar once we pack up and get the gil to arrive there. I'm sure our parents will miss us…but they've always told us to chase our dreams."_

_I never thought I'd see the day where we waved goodbye to Banora, to our parents, to the homeland that smelt of apples at odd times of the year. I'd miss the sun-kissed mountains and the tall grass blooming with flowers. But I had a dream, and I had to chase it._

_Not once in this dream had I ever thought that it would mean direct contact with Sephiroth. Not for a minute had I realized that coming into SOLDIER would mean arriving anywhere near him. I felt like a fanboy seeing him the first time that we had gotten off the airship and came forth to Shinra Headquarters, standing in a group for our admissions into the elite group. If we met a certain mark we'd begin training, and if we came to their standards we'd be put into 3__rd__ class, the lowest rank in SOLDIER. Still, it was a rank, it was far better than an infantry position, or being the front desk secretary. But I held my breath seeing him, remembering my dream of being him. That top position where everyone looked up to me, where even the crowds would want to bend and kiss my feet. My mouth watered at the thought, and I kept my eyes on him utterly star struck. I hardly heard Angeal's advisable words on keeping calm and doing my best. We had trained ourselves back home, finding it easier to challenge each other than to train alone. We were already strong. A farmer has to be strong, you do too much lifting to be weak. We worked long hours, waking up at odd hours or harvesting during times of the year you wouldn't expect. I remember missing school quite a lot junior year, but as farmers we weren't penalized for it because we were the profit of our little world. Though I was the mayor's son, I still worked out in the fields with Angeal. He had taught me the most out of farming and picking apples, like he was born with a green thumb or something. I always enjoyed his motivational talks, his comforting words when things went wrong, his sturdy stand on topics…it was as if nothing could cause him to ever break. I admired that, just like how I admired Sephiroth right now. But it was a different admiration. I hungered for what Sephiroth had._

"Genesis Rhapsodos." The name was called out in a monotone way that Genesis didn't register his own name for a minute there. He looked to his side and remembered that Angeal had gone way before him, the alphabet clearly having H before R. He remembered some of the things that Angeal had told him repeatedly. Keep his cool, don't overwork, keep a steady pace. He had no idea what the test would be like, he just knew that to get into a fighting job that meant fighting…

"You are entering into a test to see if you qualify for Shinra's elite group of fighters called SOLDIER. These tests are to be taken seriously and all results will be studied against the average scores of passing participants. If you are at average or above average in most areas, you have a higher chance of getting into SOLDIER. All test results will be figured by the end of the month. If you have any questions please ask now." Genesis shook his head feeling nothing coming to mind. "The tests are about to begin. If you believe you cannot go through this, we ask that you please leave now through that exit and you may test in for another service area. Please step forward and place your feet on the markings on the floor. This test is for physical fitness. We will time you for a minute and perform to the best of your ability as many squats as you can. When I say 'go' you may begin." Genesis tensed as he stood there, prepared for every test. Squats were easy, it was like gym class all over again. He could beat anyone in his class given the correct determination… "Go."

_I don't remember how many squats I did, how many push-ups I mustered, or how well I did in pull-ups. I can't remember how fast I can run, let alone how well I shot moving targets. My power in punching and disarming a person didn't register in my mind. I can't remember how well I did on my swordsmen test, either. It was like that for all of the tests, aside from being told that my eyesight was splendid. When it was all over I was worn out, mentally from the anxiety and physically from shaking myself up so much._

"How'd you think you did?" Angeal asked, arm slinging onto Genesis's shoulders. Genesis shrugged, unable to remember half of what happened. "I'm sure you did fine, you're just worried. Let's go out to eat, my treat."

"No, let me buy this time, you always make me feel guilty for the times that you had to pay for me."

Angeal laughed, remembering back at Banora the dumb things Genesis did that he always had to ask for gil. "All right, that sounds good to me." They walked together, relaxing as the deed was done. They passed by the door concealing Sephiroth and the other boys, forgetting about the tests and being in the presence of such a great man.

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The end of the month had arrived quickly enough, the two arriving at Shinra Headquarters once again in eagerness to see their results. Together they saw the terrified expressions amongst the others around them. Who had passed and who had failed? Who would start training and who would be kicked to the curb? These thoughts flooded through everyone as they waited, dreadfully pursuing all the possibilities as time slowly slipped by. At last someone entered in with an official looking list, yet this time Sephiroth wasn't present. Though no one noticed, hardly bothered by the emptiness of his amazing presence he brought to the room. The area was filled with too much tension to care about idols.

"We will announce those who have made it into our training program. We ask that once called you go through this door and gather up your gear and room keys. More information will be provided on the other side of the door. The rest may stay and apply for an infantry position if your results are applicable for admission. Other jobs are offered as well. Now to the results." Genesis felt the lump in his throat, the butterflies fluttering in his stomach. He hated that feeling, when nervousness grasped his body and struggled around with his stomach. His heart raced hard in his chest loudly, though he was certain everyone in the room was feeling the exact same thing. Sweating, tensing, straining, clenching jaws, taking deep breaths. It was all there in all of them. His eyes went over to a few that bent their heads and gave a small prayer. He thought of the Goddess, and he closed his eyes for a minute and silently prayed himself. A hand landed on his shoulder and he turned to look at his best friend standing there, that sly smirk on his face. He was so confident, he adored that. Angeal. How could he stand there and smile when, for all he knew, he could be disqualified from entering into SOLDIER? Their very dream to get into this place, so whimsical and stupid it had been when Genesis had first uttered the words, yet so strong and stern in their hearts now.

Down the alphabet it had gone, not a single person from A-D had gotten in. Genesis felt panicked. So many looks of disappointment, shock, sorrow, like their souls were stolen from them. He heard a few unfamiliar names called out, but Angeal's was the one that made him glance to his friend. Hope soared in his heart that he would be lucky like his friend. He watched the figure nonchalantly head through the door and disappear from sight. More letters were skipped, sometimes it was lucky to even hear the last name even be in the same group. Yet as it went down Genesis prayed harder. And he heard a Q be called out, his heart leapt, his body shaking when he closed his eyes.

_Please, please let me prove myself worthy. Give me this chance, let me in and I will show all that I can be. It's a small dream, but it's one I want to go through with. Please._

"Rhapsodos, Genesis."

Genesis heard his name and his eyes shot open. He was called. He was called!! Calmly he walked to the door and went through, numbly staring at what was on the other side. About ten or less other new people stood around holding boxes in their hands. His eyes caught Angeal, but he couldn't run over and hug him just yet. His eyes were turned to who was standing right there. Sephiroth.

"Congratulations in passing your test," his words sounded rehearsed and bored, his eyes gazing into Genesis's without any expression to them. Yet Genesis was surprised to see the tall figure even talking to him. He noticed Sephiroth offer his hand to shake and he took it, feeling the grasp of a well-trained fighter against his own hard-working hands.

"Uhh..thanks!" Genesis murmured, surprised he could even talk after going through such vigorous waiting. He was handed a box by another person and he joined the others. Everyone looked so nervous yet happy aside from Angeal, who had his own calm demeanor about himself. "I made it," Genesis remarked to Angeal like a child who had gone on a roller coaster ride for the first time.

"Of course you did, we didn't train that long and hard to get booted." Angeal slapped his back roughly, though the redhead only returned the rough whack.

"Everyone, please line up and listen carefully. You will share rooms with one or two others. Training begins early in the morning, schedules are posted in your rooms. Any questions can be answered through the number given on the schedules. Tomorrow morning all of you will attend a medical check-up along with a physical and some blood tests. You cannot skip these tests, and if you're late you will be asked to leave. Any questions?"

Someone actually raised their hand slightly, "Are we allowed to pick our roommates?"

"The keys are set out over there. If you can all do so in an orderly fashion, you may choose whoever you want. If that's all, you may go ahead. Once all of you have picked a key, Sephiroth will show you to your floor. Ask him any questions that may concern you about your rooms or anything else that comes to mind. He's gone through this before, he knows plenty to help all of you out."

Genesis looked back over at Sephiroth. It felt weird to be in the same room as him still. In fact, to Genesis he felt like there was a glass between him and Sephiroth, so the interaction was minimal. And yet he had shook hands with him already! He must have sounded stupid saying 'thanks'. Angeal nudged him as he held the keys in his hands, "Still dazed, I see. It'll wear off."

Genesis nodded, "Yeah, it still feels like a dream and not reality."

"Hmm…yes, well when you embrace your dreams sometimes they become reality."

Genesis didn't reply as they followed the group toward Sephiroth, all the eyes feeling lost as they stared at him in person. Genesis had to admit that Sephiroth looked different in person, but it was a good difference. Something more human, something attainable. "This way," Sephiroth remarked and they followed like sheep up the stairs in silence, only their feet giving rise to their existence in the place. When they reached the floor Sephiroth stopped and turned to them. "Your keys have the numbers of which door you go to. If you have any questions I'll be waiting out here."

They all split up to their doors, arriving in to see the small, not-so-hot place before them. It at least wasn't crappy, but Genesis could have asked for something nicer than boring pale blue walls and gray carpet. At least the bathroom had something nice about it, and nothing was broken. "Seems nice enough," Genesis muttered to his friend and he saw Angeal glancing at the view. He came over expecting Banora to blaze before him, but instead it was far different. Buildings upon buildings, winding streets and bright signs, decorated billboards of advertisements everywhere. It was far different than what he was used to, but he had no reason to complain. Perhaps being a city boy would be something he'd like? "It feels weird…that we're not on actual ground, just a plate."

"Yeah, you don't even realize it," Angeal commented before he turned and glanced a few times at the room before heading out. Genesis had no idea where he was going, so he poked through the things they had given him in the box. It was a training uniform along with a pamphlet on where to go and what he could do. After glimpsing through it he went out into the hallway to talk to Angeal when he noticed the guy was casually talking to Sephiroth. He was stunned at Angeal's ability to pick up a conversation with highly important people with such ease. Genesis always stumbled over his thoughts and normally nodded his head or said something weird. "How long have you been in SOLDIER?"

"Two years."

"And you're already 1st class? That's rather remarkable. Have you done previous training before you went in to SOLDIER?"

"Nothing like the basic training you'll be going through, but I did have some previous knowledge of combat skills before taking the entry exam."

Angeal's eyes turned to Genesis as the guy hung back. "See? Training pays off if you do it early enough."

Genesis came over slowly before nodding, "Yeah. That was an interesting test…" He looked at Sephiroth and Angeal before trying to think of a good question. "So…where do you live?" For a minute he thought it was a dumb question after he said it, about to take back what he said and cover it with another one, but surprisingly Sephiroth answered him.

"Down the hallway. If you have any emergencies I will be in there at night, but other than that you will have to contact the emergency lines posted in your room. If you make it completely into 3rd class, it'll automatically be programmed into a phone for you."

"Oh, that sounds nice," Genesis muttered.

"So what's your hometown?" Angeal asked. He had never read up on Sephiroth like Genesis had, so the redhead felt like the question was a terrible one to ask. Yet Sephiroth's expression didn't change at all when he answered it.

"Here, in Midgar."

"Really? Hmm…I can't imagine living in the cities for my whole life. The work might be better here, but the sight isn't that great."

Sephiroth didn't look fazed at all. "You must be from the country."

"Yes, Genesis and myself are from Banora. It's famous for the apple production we have."

Sephiroth didn't acknowledge it physically, but he remarked on it with his bored expression still brazen on his face, "Like the apple juice?"

Genesis perked up. That was his apple juice. "Yeah. That. I'm actually the one who made up the recipe for it…"

"Interesting," Sephiroth said, though his tone sounded far from interested. "If you fail here you have something to fall back on." Genesis felt like he was insulted, or at least unsure of what Sephiroth meant by those words. If he failed here? He wasn't going to fail and give up that easily.

"I won't be going home because I plan on making it through here."

Sephiroth noticed the slight rise in the boy. "Then I'm sure I'll see you plenty in the future."

Before their conversation could continue another man joined them, but he asked a question about the scheduling. "When we pass the training, will we still have to follow this schedule? There aren't that many breaks in it."

"Not as strict, but you'll still have one to follow. The higher you rise in SOLDIER the more relaxed it is, but that also means harder tasks to take. So inevitably you'll always be busy."

"Is there like…uh…a test or something to make us pass up through the ranks?" It was another male who had exited his room. Genesis still didn't have any good questions to ask. It felt like he was reaped of being able to take this time to speak to the legendary SOLDIER.

"There isn't a particular test that you go through, at least not like the one you just went through. Steady improvement over time compared to everyone else's results will determine who will rise and who will stay at their rank."

Genesis finally spoke up, "So you were compared amongst a few others, and they saw that you were the best so they promoted you?" He made it sound like it was a cheap ordeal or something. Unfortunately, Genesis hadn't realized how demeaning his words were until he spoke them. Damn, he should just keep his mouth shut.

"For my case, no. They already knew I was better than everyone else. The only reason they promoted me was because the President was tired of seeing me amongst the 2nd class when he knew my skill level was further than anyone else." Sephiroth still didn't look offended from Genesis's question. In fact, Genesis could swear he had deflected everything rather easily. "Anymore questions?"

"Do we get to see a demonstration of those skills?" someone asked. The others chuckled slightly and agreed.

Then it came, that slightly timid smile that played on Sephiroth's lips. Genesis had instantly noticed it the moment the group started to chuckled. Was he shy? Embarrassed at their words? He didn't understand why…

"Perhaps there will be one during your training sessions. I cannot determine if there will be one or not." His eyes scanned over them. "If that's all I must be leaving. You have the freedom to do as you please for now. Be sure to arrive at your designated areas tomorrow at 6 o'clock sharp. Don't be late, you will be instantly removed from Headquarters." With that Sephiroth had left the area and the group started to murmur together in a clustered group. Genesis felt pretty beat even though he didn't do anything.

"I say we go celebrate at the titty bar," someone suggested and the others whooped with the thought of going to see naked women. Genesis and Angeal exchanged glances. They were still pretty young, they hadn't gone to any bars together. Then again, they couldn't in Banora. Everyone knew each other, it'd be awkward to be sitting next to an old teacher watching a classmate perform a dance before them.

Angeal jabbed him with an elbow, "We should go."

"Are you serious?" Genesis questioned his friend, never seeing Angeal as one to jump to see a naked woman before. His friend was rather well reserved, and his morals usually stopped him from doing anything disgusting. He remembered the time that he tried to get Angeal to watch the girls in their class go skinny dipping once. That was quite the adventure. Angeal rationalized they'd get caught or would let it slip at some inappropriate time, but Genesis had talked him into it. The show wasn't all that great, but Genesis had enjoyed spying on the women nonetheless.

"Considering it won't be anyone we know, I think it's worth seeing what the city girls can do compared to the country women we're used to."

"All right…I'm up for it."

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It was later that night, Sephiroth was in his room checking over the schedule he was given. He was supposed to take this opportunity and help out those who were training to get into SOLDIER. Well, it wasn't an opportunity, more like an order. He'd have to get up early and watch them take their tests, and then round them up and send them all over the place to start their real training. It wasn't like they gave him a real job, just to stand there and point at places for them to go. Didn't he have better things to do?

Some other SOLDIER could have easily done this job, but no…they chose him. Why?

He heard the crowd of trainees making their way into their rooms, mumbling and laughing over something they had just finished. Sephiroth didn't move from his spot on the bed knowing whatever they had done wasn't really any of his business. He set the schedule down on the bedside table and pulled up a book to read, but he didn't get into it very long when his attention was brought back over to his door. He was curious about their activities. Being in Midgar for a long time didn't reap any benefits for socializing, especially when he spent all of his time working for Shinra. Sephiroth was lucky when he did get to stop and talk to some of the others, though they often stiffened around him, or they played him off as a jerk. It was always utmost respect toward his face, of course, but when others weren't around to see them act he could tell some were either overexcited to hear him talk or completely put off. There was no in-between, it was either they were a fan or they believed he cheated to be the top dog. He wondered what this group would think of him? They were the very first recruits, actually, to get into SOLDIER. Or at least the training. The group that Sephiroth had been working with had always been there, and the program hadn't actually started that long ago. He hoped this group would be far friendlier than the guys he worked with previously, though he wondered if he wanted to bother with friends. SOLDIER may be a group, but it wasn't like they ever interacted that often. Sephiroth was always busy on missions that he never talked to half the people. Not that they had much to say anyway…

Sephiroth closed the book and put it off to the side. He should sleep and stop worrying about the underdogs. Slowly he relaxed into his bed and closed his eyes.

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_I hate physicals. They're so weird and awkward. Early morning ones don't help, either. And having so many people around you just makes it that much worse._

Genesis was standing around waiting to be called in with the others. They were all tired from last night. They saw plenty of breasts and curved women to make anyone's night, really. Genesis even got a really good lap dance. He mostly remembered tits being in his face with a woman slinking all over him. It was like heaven.

"Rhapsodos," the figure called out and Genesis came into the room. "Strip completely."

_So here I now am, stripping for someone to poke, grab, fondle, and stab me. I'd rather have that lap dance all over again._

"Stand right here. Put your hands on these plates, and look forward."

"Uh, what's this do?" Genesis asked cautiously as he put his feet down on the markings and placed his hands where he was told.

"Full body scan. Now stay very still." After the physical testing was done, which Genesis was glad to at least put some boxers on, they shooed him into a different room to get dressed. He wasn't watching where he was going and unfortunately slammed into Sephiroth.

"Uh." Genesis fell silent for a moment to try and explain what he just did. "That was…an interesting physical."

Sephiroth stared at Genesis for a moment and then nodded, "You won't have to relive that moment ever again unless you break a bone or become gravely ill."

"That's good to know…did they tell you that?"

Sephiroth shook his head, "I found out the hard way."

Angeal snorted at his words, "What happened that you had to go through that again?"

Sephiroth glanced over at him, "I broke a finger."

Genesis fixed his shirt onto himself quickly with the rest of his clothes and frowned at the news. "A finger? That's it?"

Someone else spoke up as well, "Felt like I was posing for a porno in there." Everyone chuckled except for Sephiroth who watched as the remaining boys started to come in and get dressed.

"Your tests will be finished processing within the hour, but until then we're not authorized to head into your training areas in case some of you fall into a bad category."

Angeal spoke up, "Bad category?" Made it sound like there was evil in someone's blood.

"All SOLDIER operatives have mako in them. If your blood doesn't accept the mako very well, we're not going to risk injecting you with it."

What exactly does the mako do? I knew we used it for energy, but I wasn't aware of injections into humans," someone spoke up, far more concerned now about what might happen.

"Yeah, you can get mako poisoning, can't you? So isn't it unhealthy to do that?" Another person asked concerned, and soon the entire group of boys started to mutter and talk about the issue.

This was the part that always caused the most trouble. Everyone always found mako as a controversial issue at some point, even if they did support the use of it. He wondered how many of them would quit and find a different job or who would be unable to survive the injections. He remembered the original group getting pretty ill right afterward, but the strength improvements were very noticeable. "Please, it's nothing you need to get worried over. Mako poisoning only happens when you take a large amount of mako, which overrides and poisons your bloodstream. The amount we're using is far less than a lethal dosage. Mako is used as a strength enhancer, which helps raise endurance, magic use, and agility, amongst other things. Those of you who pass the blood test are completely safe in taking in mako. Those of you who aren't will obviously not be given it, but that also means you are inept from SOLDIER."

"What about mako addiction? I've heard of some weirdo people having problems with that."

Sephiroth nodded, "Mako addiction does happen if you use mako regularly. But we're not, this only needs to enter your bloodstream once. So unless you're doing something with mako on your own time, you won't be addicted or craving for more."

Genesis raised his hand slightly, "Does it hurt?" An honest question, it wasn't like he wanted to go through something terribly excruciating.

"Every individual has a different side effect. More than likely most of you will get sick, but it clears up within a few days. The worst result I've seen was nausea, which caused the person to pass out from the lack of eating anything." Sephiroth crossed his arms over his chest, "Anymore concerns?"

"Yeah. What the hell are we going to do for an hour?" The others agreed.

Sephiroth smirked slightly at their words of confusion. It was kind of funny how they seemed more relaxed around him now, he wasn't used to that. "Socialize, I'm sure all of you are good at that."

"Can we ask you more questions?" Not that Genesis had anymore to ask, but opening the floor to asking anything to Sephiroth sounded like a good idea. Maybe the others had something to ask him as well?

Sephiroth glanced back at Genesis. He assumed he was going to be like all the other fans he had, where they had nothing important to ask but felt the need to pry through everything anyway. "Depends, is it a personal question?"

Genesis wasn't expecting that question. "Well…um…I don't know, are you opposed to personal questions?"

"I suppose it would depend on how personal it was."

Someone decided to speak up, "Have you been to the local bar? Those girls got some nice tits." Most of the guys tried not to laugh, but a few couldn't hold it in. The fact that anyone would even ask Sephiroth that question seemed comical in their mind. Then again, Sephiroth's expression did seem to make it that much better.

"No, I haven't, but thank you for the…information." Maybe this lot of new guys wasn't going to be all that easy to adjust to? He was still pretty young, and most of these figures looked older than him.

"You probably have a girlfriend, right? That's why. His girlfriends stingy about those places," another interjected.

"No, no girlfriend," Sephiroth remarked casually. Oh how he should have kept his mouth shut.

"You're single?" Genesis questioned this, thinking Sephiroth had a secret harem of women hiding in his room. "Seriously?" Angeal gave Genesis a jab with his elbow to not push the subject. Upsetting Sephiroth could be their very downfall.

"Yes, I'm completely serious. I might as well inform all of you now that if you do make it into SOLDIER you will find it hard to keep up relations with anyone. So tell your parents that if you don't call for months they shouldn't get upset, and you might as well tell your girlfriends that you're picking a career over them. SOLDIER is a group dedicated to the Planet. You travel thousands of miles to protect what we cherish most. Sometimes you will be gone for what may seem like eternity, and other times you will be traveling all over to the point you won't remember the last place you had stopped at. This is our Headquarters, but the higher you rise in ranks the more often you will see the outside world more than this place. This goes the same for people. Your connections will be lost except for by phone, and your phone should be used for professional purposes. So, if you're afraid of saying goodbye to your girlfriends or your mother…then this job clearly isn't for you."

The motivational speech did damper everyone's mood quite a bit, but at least it was truthful. One man scratched his head slightly and pulled on the beard he was sporting, "Hmm…should probably talk this over more with my wife."

Sephiroth nodded, "That would be a wise decision." Didn't anyone ever read the information center applications before coming into a job? They all seemed so blind to the harsh situations amongst them.

"So, what did your mom think when you told her you were hitching up to save the world and you weren't going to see her?" It was another younger boy who looked like he needed some guidance in making his decisions.

But Sephiroth didn't know how to answer that. He never saw his mother before, and he didn't know anything about her. He could just tell the truth, but he found the information unnecessary to reiterate to the crowd. Then again, if he deflected the question it'd only make them more curious. Although, curiosity could easily be pushed away. "That's nothing you need to worry about. All of you should just wait the hour and see if you made it in anyway before worrying about losing contact with people. Besides, the training sessions will be your hardest task to get through."

Genesis frowned at those words. Hardest part was training? Man, what had he got himself into. "Did the group ahead of us have a lot of trouble getting through?"

"The group ahead of you didn't enter the way you did. SOLDIER wasn't an actual group at the time, but our head figures here at Shinra recognized that some excelled far beyond others. There were tests for the entire infantrymen squad, which more than half were unable to do. From the small group that could do the tests, half of them couldn't pass the requirements needed—the ones which you're being tested for today. After more training and several handful of missions, a fifth of that group dropped out or died. Though the deaths were due to carelessness, nothing that the rest of us could handle. Beyond that, only a few made it into 2nd class, and obviously only one made it to 1st."

"What did you do differently that helped you get stronger?" someone asked.

"It wasn't necessarily different, but I took the training seriously. The worst thing you can do during these sessions is give up. Obviously your body has a limit and you shouldn't strain past that, but once things get uncomfortable most people back down. You'll never improve if you have low expectations."

"What if we just have a low pain threshold?" another person asked. The figure was standing beside Genesis, and the redhead wondered how much pain he could take. He hadn't gone through anything excruciating before. Would his time here be like that?

Sephiroth glanced over with a very small, sly smile. "After a few beatings I'm sure you'll become more tolerable." The way he had said it, so cynical yet truthful, had made Genesis's skin crawl. The dangers of this job were finally starting to surface. Genesis hoped that he could make it through the training, especially with Angeal by his side.

When the hour was over a girl entered in and looked at Sephiroth, "The test results are in." Everyone tensed wondering if they made it in, hoping that their reaction to mako would be fine. "It's a good batch, everyone is able to take the shot when the time comes."

Sephiroth looked over at the large group of completely astonished trainees. "You all passed, congratulations." A sigh of relief and several happy remarks were exchanged amongst the group. "Now to go on with training. How many of you remember where you're going first?" The entire group didn't raise their hands. "Of course. There's a list outside that door. Each station is labeled with a number, and you rotate clockwise, so the numbers should ascend. I'll be going around watching how you perform. It's important that you make a good, first attempt. I know most of you might want to do terrible the first time and then 'dramatically' improve with each session, but that will only cause more problems for you in the long run. If there are no questions then proceed."

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

_Training has gone on for three straight months. Our small group has banded together to keep each other's spirits up, but sometimes it feels like we're never going to get into the actual elite group. Sephiroth doesn't check up on us that much as he used to in the beginning. He told us he had several missions to do so he didn't know how often he'd see us. Losing his attention did make us falter, but nonetheless we continued to proceed with our dreams. Sometimes we're even forced outside for our training, out in the bleak streets of Midgar to work our asses off before everyone. Some of the guys are nervous in front of large groups, myself being one of them. I continue to focus and keep my cool though, I know I can only rise like a star if everyone looks at me. Angeal has basically become our guru during sessions. I always knew he was a good motivational speaker to me, but it's always so surprising how he can advise everyone with such ease. I'm still envious of that talent. Sometimes I wonder if he's ever jealous of me at times, but then I remember Angeal doesn't have a bad quality about him, and jealousy happens to be 'sinful.'_

_Today is just another day. Or at least I thought it would be. Training, training, more training, and painful sleep filled with haunting nightmares about training. Every single day it's been like that, and the more this goes on the less sleep I get. I've been told that the fitter you become the less sleep you need because you have all the energy you can take, but I think they forget to mention that the exercise happens in your dreams as well, which makes you not want to sleep._

_We've arrived in our normal starting room to stretch and get some small talk in before we're forced into the continuous circle of constant training. Pull-ups, squats, running on treadmills, or up and down the stairs. It's beginning to become painful just thinking about it. Yet I was so stuck on the thought of training I hadn't realize that Sephiroth was there today._

"This is a pleasant surprise," Angeal remarked seeing Sephiroth standing there. Genesis turned his head to ask what but finally set eyes on Sephiroth. Where did he come from?

Sephiroth watched the group gather before gently crossing his arms over his chest, "Today is your final day of training. You'll go through the cycle once and that will be marked as your final test score. Once it's put into the database, your averages and your improvements will be displayed for you. If you have improved enough to fit our standards, you will be given an actual 3rd class outfit and will be lucky enough to say that you're a part of SOLDIER. Any questions?"

Genesis nodded, "Yeah, where have you been?" A few guys snorted at his words, as if he was a nagging wife to a husband that returned late at night from the bar.

Sephiroth didn't think he had to answer that question, but he didn't want to be snippy about it. "If you pass I'll tell you. Anything else?" No one spoke up. "All right, then go train and come back here when you've finished."

None of them wasted time in getting to their stations, and after vigorous and tedious tension throughout all of their muscles, trying to work harder than they've ever done before, they had finished the daily grind and came forth to find Sephiroth standing there still waiting for them. "Your results will be appearing on that wall," he pointed to his left, "it'll show your scores for the entire time, but you should pay the most attention to your first attempt compared to your averages, your last score, and then the overall percent increase." When the scores came up everyone took a moment to silently stare at what they had gotten, absorbing it all in. It didn't make much sense to Genesis aside from numbers becoming other numbers. After several minutes had passed Genesis began to compare his scores to others, wondering if he did better than anyone. It was as if Sephiroth had been reading his mind, because he then spoke up about it. "Now they'll highlight who came first, second, and third in highest improvement along with highest strength." The scores changed and showed Angeal's, Genesis's, and someone else's in that order for highest improvement. Genesis felt pretty good. High improvement meant a better chance in getting into SOLDIER, didn't it? Then it changed to highest strength, Genesis went down to third but Angeal stayed the same for first place, and the second place winner was a different person from last time. Sephiroth almost congratulated them, but another slide soon popped up. "Hmm…now they're comparing the three ranks to my score when I went through training."

Genesis was pretty surprised at how high Sephiroth's numbers were. He noticed he beat him in one area, and to his disappointment it was in squats. Heck, he beat everyone in that area. "I wonder what your worst score was…"

Sephiroth watched as the screen went off before he brought his attention to Genesis, "Perhaps I'll tell you later. As for right now, those who have passed will be displayed. If your name appears, go through that door and get your uniforms and other necessities. If you don't pass, you're given the opportunity to get into an infantry position without any further training. If you're dissatisfied with that, you may leave after removing your things and signing off with Director Lazard through that door." He hesitated before glancing at the wall with everyone else. Once the names displayed he felt rather pleased that almost all of them got through.

Genesis was thankful his name popped up, but he was expecting it to after seeing where he ranked amongst the group. Angeal and he were the first to go into the next room and get their new uniforms plus pamphlets on what they will be doing in the future. It didn't take long for the rest of the group that passed to come in with Sephiroth as well. "You're given today off, so do as you please," Sephiroth remarked. Most of the guys left quickly, muttering about going drinking and back to the titty bar. But Genesis hung back to talk to Sephiroth.

"So where did you go?"

Sephiroth had already forgotten about Genesis's questions, so when the man beckoned him to answer he felt displeased by him. "I was with the President on a mission. The Turks work as the usual body guards that stand there but don't know what they're doing, and I linger and actually do the muscle-work of the job. I can't tell you where because that's confidential."

"Understandable. What of your worst day in training?"

Sephiroth noticed the only people around were Genesis and Angeal. Not that he wanted anyone to know, but it seemed easier to answer then push the question off. "I was ill during the entire day, so I attempted to keep going. It didn't work so well."

"How?"

"I threw up at every station I went to. They pulled me after the third time it happened."

Genesis thought it was funny, imagining the legendary hero too sick to workout. "That sucks, but at least you got to rest."

Sephiroth didn't answer that, only glanced at the time, "Tomorrow you'll get your shots and will have another day off. Spend your time off wisely, you won't get vacation very often in this line of work."

Angeal smirked at the comment before punching Genesis, "Come on, we need to celebrate. You can gawk and ask questions later."

Genesis followed angrily, "I wasn't gawking."

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

Sephiroth was reading in his room, much like he usually did when he heard, once again, the parade of members walking in the hallway. They were rather loud this time around, but Sephiroth paid no attention to it. He only hoped that every night wouldn't be like that. He went to bed soon after the crowd had returned, and woke up early to shower and prepare for the day. He had a feeling that someone was going to get really sick with the mako, as it happened in the last group as well.

He arrived early as usual and watched as the boys started to file in slowly, but early enough it didn't seem to make much a difference. "You'll be stationed at a table and given a dose of mako. We advise that, since you get today off as well, you take it easy and don't overexert yourself. The mako needs to run through your system for awhile before it settles. If you work yourself up the cycling could become extremely poisonous to your body, and you'll either become paralyzed or die. So don't take this warning too lightly." His eyes scanned their faces before raising an eyebrow, "Any questions?" None. "Then go into that room and find yourself a spot."

Genesis took a seat at a station where some woman was sitting. She stared at him for a minute before she smirked, "You look pretty young to be in SOLDIER."

Genesis shrugged slightly, "Not too young…I'm the same age as Sephiroth."

"Oh yes, I always forget how young he is, too. His nature doesn't seem like that of a youngster if you ask me," she cooed, picking up Genesis's arm with her soft hands and wiped away at a vein. Genesis thought the woman looked to be in her fifties, slightly heavy, but still seemed rather sweet. "Have any charm with the ladies?" She had asked so leisurely, the way Genesis would probably talk to his own mother.

"Um…well yes, charm, but I haven't dated anyone recently." It was truthful, he last dated a girl in high school. That relationship wound up crazy enough as it was…

"If you ask me, you should be teaching Sephiroth some of that. He might be able to teach everyone how to be macho and strong, but I think someone needs to give him a shove in the lady killer department. He's got the looks, but he never talks."

Genesis smirked slightly, "You mean he's shy?"

"Yes! Oh yes." She grabbed up a needle and slowly inserted it in, injecting the odd fluids into Genesis. "Utterly shy."

"I kind of guessed…he seems…timid in some of his photos."

"Very. It's kind of cute, but really. Most women want a strong man physically and personality-wise."

Genesis watched her stick a sticky, adhesive bandage over the spot where the needle had been inserted. His eyes glanced at the design on it and almost laughed that they had the Shinra emblem displayed. "What if he's not interested in getting a girl?"

She chuckled, "You can't be serious. Look at him, doesn't he seem like the type that wants women all over him?" Genesis looked over at Sephiroth who had been directing his attention to a different table, but as soon as they looked Sephiroth whipped his eyes to them. Genesis didn't look away while answering her question.

"I don't mean that he doesn't like girls, I'm just…saying that maybe he doesn't want to bother with one in his line of business?" Genesis rubbed his arm carefully before getting up.

"Perhaps. Well I'll be seeing you around, sugar, you take care. Don't be wrestling around with that stuff inside you, all right? Take it easy! And go teach him how to make a move, will ya?"

Genesis gave a small nervous laugh at her loud exclamations before finding Angeal. "That was interesting." Angeal raised an eyebrow for him to continue. "That lady told me to teach Sephiroth how to hit on a girl. She said that he was 'too shy' for his own good."

Angeal snorted. "Wow. You know, it would be entertaining if you did start giving him tips. I'm not sure if he'd be livid or ignore you."

"I just got into SOLDIER, do you really think Sephiroth is going to want to bother with me anymore than he's been forced to? Now that he doesn't have to watch over us I'm sure he'll drop off the face of the earth and do his own thing."

"Well you better start making some good impressions right now to make him want to stay around more. I thought your whole goal in getting here was, in some part, to be around him."

"What? No. I just wanted to beat him, not be friends with him. From now on, we're like enemies. This is a complete competition going on."

"He already beat you," Angeal remarked.

"No…there's still a chance of taking over. There's always a chance that he'll fall out of favor with everyone." Genesis and Angeal then walked past him without saying a word to the figure.

Sephiroth didn't flinch at the quiet behavior. He was used to everyone avoiding talking to him. The Director had told him it was an intimidation factor that others get when they're in the presence of someone greater than him, though Sephiroth hadn't seen any of them freeze up over the last few times he had been around. He shouldn't worry, everyone was too busy in other conversations to think about him. Once everyone had pooled out of the room he had gone to his own. His duty was to make sure the others were fine after the injections, and they all could easily find him within his room. Sephiroth picked up his book and started to read again.

Two hours later he received a sharp knock on his door. He rose, setting the book down and opening the door up, "Yes?" It was Angeal, he looked relatively worried.

"Genesis is starting to turn green, is that normal?"

Green. That didn't sound healthy. "Let me have a look." Sephiroth followed Angeal to their room and found that Genesis wasn't there. But they heard noises in the bathroom, and Sephiroth could automatically tell he was probably vomiting. When the boy came out he did look pretty green.

"I'm fine, I swear," Genesis muttered when Sephiroth pulled him over to sit down on the bed.

"Well of course you're fine, you would have died ten minutes after the injection if it was bad for you. Tell me what you're feeling."

Genesis rubbed his head, "Uhhhh. Nausea…" Obviously. "Headache. Um…really…tired, it's hard to focus." Genesis thought about the rest of the issues, as if it wasn't coming right to him. "The muscles here really hurt," he pointed at his abdomen, "and my arm is stiff." Sephiroth pulled out a flashlight from the bedside table and shined it into Genesis's eyes. Of course the figure retracted from it. "Ow, do you mind? That's not helping."

"That's painful?"

"Yeah, it is."

Sephiroth put the flashlight back before grabbing Genesis's arm to check out the damage. It was bruising around the bandage, and when he put slight pressure on it Genesis would wince. "Sore?"

"Yes, very."

"Lay back." Sephiroth watched Genesis slowly fall back on the bed. He could see the color of his eyes beginning to brighten slightly from the mako. At least that looked normal. He reached over and started to press Genesis's stomach, but the boy reacted quickly by lurching away. "Does that hurt?"

Genesis held his stomach, "Yes, and it also tickles."

"I have to do it to see if your organs are okay. If it's very painful that could be a problem."

Genesis whined, "Okay." He leaned back and Sephiroth continued his pressing, watching Genesis squirm and twitch when he hit a tender spot. He only arrived at the top of his hip bone before Genesis straightened up. "It doesn't hurt any further down."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm positive!" Genesis rubbed his sides, "It's painful but not that painful."

"Yes, given the fact that you didn't scream when I put pressure on you, it's obvious to see that your symptoms are normal. You just have a strong reaction to the mako, but you should be fine."

Genesis sighed and curled back up in bed, "It's okay if I sleep, right?"

"Yes, of course." Sephiroth looked at Angeal, "If anything worsens just come and get me."

Sephiroth had thought it would be just like he remembered last time. One person got sick and easily recovered in a few days. But he hadn't bargained for what was to come…

It was later that night, no one had bothered him after Genesis's morning incident and everyone was asleep. Even Sephiroth was tucked into his covers asleep in bed. But the opening of his door had caused his eyes to snap wide open and he turned quickly to see who was entering. The door made it's way in a soft, slow sweep all the way open before coming to a stop. There was Genesis, standing there, but something was different about him. His eyes were half open, and his head tilted downward. The rest of his body seemed sluggish or fluid-like in movement. Sephiroth wanted to question what he needed, but recognized that Genesis was asleep. So, was sleep walking normal for him, or was this happening because of the mako sickness? The boy moved his way in slowly, steps very clunky and clumsy. He kept going, moving around the foot of the bed before stopping near the window. Sephiroth sat up more. Maybe he should direct him back to bed? He got up to slide beside Genesis. His eyes looked so weird being open like that… "Genesis?"

The redhead turned his head slowly to him before walking in his direction. He tripped and all of his dead weight slammed into Sephiroth. The 1st class SOLDIER couldn't keep his balance, and he went falling backward into his closet with Genesis on top of him. Unfortunately, the closet was probably the most crap-filled area in Sephiroth's room. He didn't keep it very clean, and things started to pile up in it from day one. So Sephiroth was being jabbed from many different angles, and the pain only worsened since Genesis was now utterly passed out on him. He struggled to pull his ass out of some odd bucket or something that he was in while trying to free himself from Genesis's body. It didn't take him long to stand up and watch Genesis fall on a pair of boots sloppily. At least no one was there to witness that, even he felt somewhat embarrassed by his lack of preparedness in catching the guy. He was 1st class, he should be able to do these things in a snap.

"Come on, you need to get back to bed." Sephiroth remarked to the sleeping figure, not that he'd get a response back. Gently Genesis was scooped up and Sephiroth moved to get out of the atrocious closet, but Genesis stretched himself and grabbed onto the doorframe.

"Mom, I don't want to leave my room yet," he muttered.

"This isn't your room it's my closet."

Genesis kept his grip still. "You…can't lie to me…mom."

"I'm not your mother, it's Sephiroth."

Genesis twitched slightly but made no movement to let go. Sephiroth sighed and dropped him back in the rubble of his closet. He didn't want to fight with him at this hour. He got back in bed and passed out, hoping Genesis would wake up and leave on his own accord.

OoOoOoOoOoO

Angeal woke up early that morning and found Genesis gone from his bed. He searched inside the bathroom and then went out to talk to Sephiroth. He entered in to find the man sleeping, but he woke up rather quickly when Angeal took a step closer to try and wake him up. "Sephiroth, Genesis disappeared."

Sephiroth nodded slightly, "He's in the closet."

Angeal wasn't sure what he meant by that. What closet? His eyes went over to Sephiroth's that was neatly tucked into the corner and he looked back down at the 1st class figure curiously. "Your closet?"

"Yes."

Angeal walked over and saw the redhead curled up with a boot as a pillow, some armor covering half his head, and two pairs of pants that had wrapped about him in a weird pattern. "Genesis, wake up." He knocked off the random assortment of clothing and pulled him to sit up. "Hey, speak to me."

Genesis rubbed at his eye, "Mmm…pff…"

"What?"

"I…think I'm going to puke."

Sephiroth heard that from his bed. He got up instantaneously and grabbed Genesis out of Angeal's grasp, putting him before the toilet. It was probably a good thing he did, because just a few moments after the redhead got ungodly sick. Sephiroth turned his attention to Angeal curiously. "Does he sleepwalk often?"

Angeal shook his head, "I've never heard of him doing that before."

Sephiroth grabbed a washcloth and drenched it in cold water before handing it to Genesis, "Here."

Genesis wiped his mouth and then felt his head, "I'm hot."

"You do look a little pink," Angeal commented. "Let's get you in your own bed."

Angeal pulled the boy up as best as he could, but they all noticed how wobbly Genesis's legs were. Sephiroth bent down and grabbed the man's calves, "Your legs look numb."

Genesis looked down, "They kind of are."

Sephiroth pulled him over and sat him on the bed, "Just sit here for a minute." He grabbed up his phone from the nightstand and quickly dialed a number. "It's Sephiroth. Send a nurse to my room, one of the newest members is experiencing severe side effects from the mako injection."

The same woman that Genesis received the injection from arrived into his room. She was rather surprised to see all three of them hardly wearing anything. "My my, this is a pleasant surprise! I wish you boys would call me up like this more often. Now let me see the poor thing," she shooed Angeal from her way and started to eye up Genesis a bit. "Well it's a simple fix, we'll give him a dose of medicine to ease the side effects, and he should be perfectly fine by the end of the week." She went through her items she brought up and pulled out a bottle, sticking the needle in and sucking up the medicine. She stared at it thoroughly before tapping it softly and letting it squirt out before she poked Genesis and injected him with it. "How's that feel, handsome?"

Genesis rubbed his arm, "Painful."

"Poor thing," she sympathized. Gently she kissed the top of his forehead before turning to the other two. "Anymore sick ones?"

Sephiroth shook his head, Angeal had no idea.

"Well, all right then. You know," the nurse remarked. "You should get some ladies in here! Have a cute little party all in your undies for the girls to enjoy!" Her eyes went directly to Sephiroth, "I want to hear the girls describe all about you in bed, I have yet to hear that delight, and I don't have forever to live you know."

When she left after that monologue Genesis had to speak up about it. "You're a virgin??" It was completely unheard of to him. Sephiroth not grabbing a girl and showing her a thing or two just seemed weird. He would at least expect he picked a girl up from his fanbase or something, even if he declared that he had no time for a girlfriend.

"You seem to be feeling well," Sephiroth retorted. "You should go rest in your own room now."

Genesis slowly got up as he moved toward the door and he glanced back at Sephiroth. "The others will be so surprised to hear that."

Angeal had already made it out of his room, but he turned back to see how Sephiroth would react. It…wasn't pretty. Sephiroth just grabbed Genesis by the hair and smashed him against the doorframe, then came in close for the intimidating factor. "Say a word about me and I'll make your life here very miserable. I don't tolerate rumors or gossip. We're grown men. Now act like one." He shoved Genesis out then and closed his door.

Angeal grabbed onto his friend and smirked. Nothing like seeing Genesis get pushed around to brighten his day. "So I guess it's a secret between the three of us, huh?"

Genesis nodded, "Yeah…for now, anyway."

"Oh boy, do I even want to ask?"

Genesis smiled, "I've got ways in making it known without having to say it out loud."

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

_My goal in life isn't meant to make Sephiroth's life miserable. I don't wish any harm upon him, I'm just curious whether he will truthfully answer to us as a group rather than some of us individuals. I arranged for a few of the other guys in our 3__rd__ class group to ask him some questions when he meets with us in the morning. Supposedly Sephiroth is only doing this for the first week before we can govern ourselves. I had to plan everything perfectly and quickly before he vanished from us for good._

"Any questions?" Sephiroth had asked, the usual way to end his speeches. Someone actually raised their hand this time, something that rarely ever happened. "Yes?" Perhaps they needed him to repeat something, or they were confused about a word he said?

"I've got a personal question, sir, regarding my relationship with my girlfriend. Given your professional opinion, I was curious if you think it's okay that I have sex with her? Because I wasn't sure if abstinence was best or if you had experience in what type of way I should go about doing this. I don't necessarily want kids as of yet."

Most of the group wasn't sure whether to feel awkward or to laugh, and Sephiroth had no idea what he had just gotten himself into. "If you don't want kids then clearly abstinence is best."

"Yeah, I suppose…I just thought it'd be a celebratory thing for us to get it on since I'm in SOLDIER now."

Another person spoke up, "Oh, yeah…you should get it on."

Sephiroth wasn't sure whether he even wanted to comment on that. "How long have you been dating her?"

"Two years now."

Well that was better than what he was thinking. "If you want it that badly then use protection."

The guy next to Genesis snorted, "What? That totally ruins the moment, it doesn't feel as great."

This wasn't getting any better. "Then ask her to get protected."

One of the younger kids perked up. "Wait, girls can get protection? How does that work?"

Sephiroth glanced over at him. Seriously? He tried to think of a good way to put it, but there was nothing. "You're the reason why teenagers get pregnant and end up in financial debt."

"I am?"

"Yes, because you're a moron." The group started to snort and laugh at Sephiroth's cruel words. "Now if there aren't anymore questions, you should go to a nurse and figure out why you should never have kids."

Someone else spoke up, "What if I've been dating my girl for a few weeks? Then what? Do you think I should wait?"

"Yes."

Another member had to disagree. "Whoa, I think we all know that we get girls to get some ass, right?" The group agreed. "Sephiroth, you couldn't honestly think this is about 'love' and that bullshit, right?"

This was starting to remind Sephiroth of the other group. They always pointed out how he was 'at fault' because he clearly didn't understand what was reality and what was fantasy. He always believed that people got into relationships either for love or because it was forced. The whole 'sex' thing never made sense in his mind. Why was it such a big deal? "You wanted my opinion, I gave it. If you don't like it then don't ask next time."

"Well if you think girls are for 'love' and not just sexing up, then does that mean you've never had sex? Because you did comment that you've never dated a girl before."

Genesis felt that beautiful moment come out as the pressure was on Sephiroth. This was probably the greatest thing to witness. It was either going to be a simple yes or no. But how he would display it, or maybe give explanations on his decisions to cover up it all. Now that would be the victory for Genesis. Seeing Sephiroth try to keep the title of 'great hero' when he's not so great at all.

"Correct," Sephiroth remarked casually. Genesis was somewhat stunned. Just like that?

"Seriously?"

"Yes. I enjoy killing people more than I enjoy a person's presence. With that, I also love seeing my lower-ranked operatives in pain. Now that you've brought it up to me, we'll start training extra early tomorrow. All of you be here at four. Don't be late. You're dismissed."

Genesis began to follow the others out. Wow. He wasn't sure what to think. The fact that Sephiroth would rather run someone through with his sword than have a friendly conversation with them was slightly irking.

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

Angeal groaned as the alarm went off. Early morning practice even made him hate Genesis. He scooped up some clothes and quickly changed, elbowing Genesis as hard as he could to get him up. "Come on, dickwad, we have training to do."

Genesis whimpered slightly, "Right now?" He had naturally stayed up pretty late and had no energy whatsoever. He fumbled on some clothes and tried to sway his hair the right way. "God it's early."

"Yeah, that's what happens when you piss off the only 1st class SOLDIER around here. Now hurry up."

They arrived amongst the others to find Sephiroth already there. It was as if he didn't sleep and was busy preparing for this very moment. To Genesis, he wouldn't be surprised if Sephiroth thought the entire thing out. He probably wanted to rip a new hole in all of them.

"Good morning," Sephiroth remarked cynically. The rest muttered it back. "Today is going to be a test of your endurance. There will be three tests. The person who lasts the longest won't have to do the remaining tests. The people who wind up being last…well…you'll be staying after for something far more exciting." He pointed at a wall, "Find a spot and do a wall-sit."

Everyone went and found a spot on the wall and scooted down so their legs made a 90 degree angle. They pressed their backs against the wall, and small talk ensued.

"So how was your guys' nights?" one gentleman asked.

"Pretty good, ate some great food at the nice restaurant near LOVELESS Avenue."

Genesis ignored the chattering and focused on the endurance part. _I can do this, I should be fine. Patience. Oh dear Goddess my legs are starting to burn._

Sephiroth watched them carefully and noticed how Genesis's legs were already wiggling slightly. Just as he had planned. He knew that Genesis had put everyone up to the task of asking him questions yesterday, he wasn't a moron. He made it pretty obvious when everyone beside himself and his friend didn't talk. Luckily, Sephiroth knew Genesis was weak from the mako injection and its sickness on him. He wouldn't be back to full health until later this week, so he knew that taking advantage now was his golden opportunity. The boy was bound to lose all three, or at least one of them. And if it came to it, Sephiroth had something planned for the losers that would ensure that the boy lost.

Genesis ignored the chatter still, though he was beginning to feel really sick again. Maybe the strain of his muscles was making him nauseous? Oh boy. "I think I'm going to puke again."

Sephiroth pointed to the door, "Bathroom is down the hall." Genesis got to the door, but it didn't stay in. He lost it all over the floor. Sephiroth turned his attention to Genesis surprised at how quickly that happened. "Or you can use the floor, that works just as well."

Angeal got up from his position and walked over to Genesis, "Maybe you should go lay down instead if you're getting sick again."

Genesis thought it over. To him it sounded like a really good idea, but to Sephiroth, he was just getting started. "If Genesis wants to forfeit for all the challenges," Sephiroth replied coolly.

Genesis stared at him as he had wiped off his mouth, watching someone come over to clean up the mess he made. "Seriously? What if I do, that just makes me the loser, right? What did you have planned?"

Sephiroth gave a slight chuckle, "I can't reveal that. You either participate or you don't. Your fate is a mystery."

Genesis sighed and looked at the others who were still doing the wall-sit. He glanced back at Sephiroth before shrugging, "Fine, I forfeit."

Sephiroth glanced at the others, "The rest of you can go back to bed." The group thanked Genesis's decision to sacrifice himself for the group and quickly left. Sephiroth noticed Angeal was hesitant in leaving. "You as well. Don't worry, I won't break him."

Angeal glanced at Genesis then before leaving. He wasn't sure how well he could trust Sephiroth, they had just started and it seemed the way things were panning out, he was going to be a hardass to Genesis. Then again, Genesis deserved a good beating every once in awhile…

Sephiroth landed his eyes on the unsuspecting boy, his life now in the hands of the 1st class SOLDIER. He felt powerful right now, prepared to do anything he could to make Genesis suffer. But Genesis interrupted his cynical thoughts. "I'm going to the bathroom first."

So Sephiroth waited for him until the boy returned after awhile looking somewhat livelier. "Took you long enough."

"I brushed my teeth."

"You carry a toothbrush with you?"

"Yeah…don't you?"

Sephiroth shook his head, "Not while I'm around here, no."

"Hm…oh well. So what were you going to do to me? Beat me up? Was it because of the questions yesterday? I knew that was kind of obvious, but my curiosity was gnawing at me. See, every time I look at you I just think you're the type of guy who probably gets a lot of ass coming your way and you'd take 'em to town." Sephiroth's face was relatively straight, but there was some shock to his expression as Genesis spoke. "And that lady kept telling me to teach you how to hit on girls. That made me wonder if you were either just extremely shy, or…"

Sephiroth noticed he didn't speak up after that. "Or what?"

"Well you know…" Genesis looked around making sure that they were relatively alone. "I thought you were gay."

Sephiroth was relatively surprised at that. "Just because I don't sleep around with every girl I see you thought that?"

"There's nothing wrong with being gay, I was just guessing the shyness might have a link into that because it's not like it'd be easy for you to come out."

Sephiroth tried to respond but he ended up laughing instead, unable to even come up with a good comeback. Finally he sighed and shook his head, "No."

"No?"

"I'm interested in neither." He wasn't sure how to explain it, or why he should even bother telling Genesis this, but for some reason he felt like talking to him was the right thing to do. There was something about Genesis that did make him want to open up a bit. Perhaps because he wasn't as rude as the group before him? Angeal and Genesis did seem relatively relaxed around him.

"How? You don't ever think about sex?"

"No, I don't."

"Seriously? Like…never?" Genesis watched him shake his head. Man. This was weird. Genesis wondered what to say to that. "That's crazy. And not normal."

"It's normal to fantasize about something you'll never get?"

"Hey, careful what you say." Genesis glanced around and saw one girl working the night shift. "Okay, look at that chick right there. You can't tell me you don't find her attractive."

"What's there to like?"

"She's got nice eyes, slender fingers…look at those legs."

"She looks like a normal girl."

"How is that normal? She's pretty hot. She's perky. Nice shape to her."

Sephiroth shook his head, "I don't see your point."

Genesis sighed and pointed at another girl that was walking over to a copier. She had dropped a piece of paper and she bent down to pick it up. "Okay, look at that. She's got a nice ass. And those legs are pretty nice, too. And you can see down her shirt, she's got some nice cleavage going."

Sephiroth glanced from the girl to Genesis, "Is that all you do when you look at girls? Rate their bodies?"

"You have to think of personalities, too, but I mean…it's okay to look. I mean, don't you like looking at them?"

"They're nice people, but there's nothing to look at."

Genesis scratched his head. Seemed so weird. "You sure you don't like guys? Look at me, do you find me attractive?"

Sephiroth stared at Genesis, "You look normal."

"You're weird. Do you think you look normal?"

"No."

"Oh, so you only like yourself?"

"No, I'm merely saying that I don't look like everyone else."

Genesis thought it over before glancing back up at him, "So…if someone as unique as yourself showed up, would you be attracted to them?"

"I highly doubt it."

Genesis shook his head. He just didn't get it. How could someone have no attraction to anything? "Maybe if you got some action you'd realize that there's something to like."

Sephiroth continued to watch the workers in that dull expression he usually carried. "I have a reputation to keep, I'd rather not waste it on a 500 gil whore."

"Watch some porn."

Sephiroth looked down at him, "Just what I've always wanted to do. Watch two complete strangers have sex with each other."

"I'm making as many suggestions that I can come up with."

"I'm surprised you haven't offered yourself up considering you're so intent on this subject."

Genesis was shocked at his words. He wasn't sure whether to feel embarrassed or disgusted. "You might be 1st class, but I don't think I could get on all fours for your benefit."

"Really?" Sephiroth gave a thoughtful pause before turning his attention to Genesis. "I thought you were gay."

"What? Why? That's absurd and just…stupid."

"You're getting upset. What's the matter, is it true?"

"No! I'm acting rationally. You're claiming I'm something I'm not."

"It's rational to get upset over a small misconception?"

"Shut up." Genesis felt bitter. "I'm straight. At least I don't look like a girl."

Sephiroth chuckled, "I've already heard that one before. And I thought you'd be the creative type."

Genesis watched as Sephiroth started to move off and he readily followed. There was something about Sephiroth that made him want to keep bugging him. Was it just because he was the famous 1st class SOLDIER? No. It had to be something else. "Other people have made fun of you? That seems a bit unreal."

"Everyone has their enemies."

"Well I suppose, but here at Headquarters? I wouldn't expect you to have that problem."

Sephiroth looked Genesis directly in the eyes. There was something exchanged between them, something far friendlier than Genesis would have expected from the guy. It was like he was accepting him as a friend, or perhaps just a really good acquaintance.

"The group of guys before you, the ones that I've trained with this entire time…" Sephiroth gave a condescending shake of his head. "They all have something against me. If you're ever curious to hear any rumors about me, they're the ones to go to. They can make up anything on the spot. There may come a day where the guys from your group will join them as well. Who knows? Though it doesn't really matter. Our conflicts, perhaps personal, should never interfere with our work. As long as we remember that, then it matters not what they say. I have a duty to take care of, and it's far more important than trying to stop rumors from flowing."

They kept walking and talking, taking their time as they meandered throughout the building with no particular destination. It was starting to become morning, figures were starting to move about more often then not. But Genesis hadn't expected to meet any of the members that Sephiroth had spoken of. When Sephiroth had said they were good at rumors, he hadn't exactly let that sink in until a small group had already formed and swooped in for an attack. He wasn't paying attention, and unfortunately when the group blocked their way he just thought he should turn around and head the opposite direction. He was a lower class figure to the group of 2nds that stood before him, but luckily he was in Sephiroth's presence. Surely the man could bat this flock away easily enough.

"Hey Sephiroth, I see you've got a new piece of tail you're going after."

"Where'd you find this one? In the infantry squad?"

Genesis felt ashamed by those words. More so that he was wearing the correct uniform yet still being undermined, and the fact that they'd assume Sephiroth was after him. Yet Sephiroth took it in stride, like their words were nothing. "He's one of the few that passed through the testing for newer members. You knew that the President was having Director Lazard assemble more SOLDIER operatives."

One stepped forward to get a better look at Genesis, "I doubt he'll get past his lowly 3rd rank."

Genesis had to snap back at him. "You probably said the same thing about Sephiroth, but look where he's at."

The others chuckled and exchanged looks before landing their callous eyes back to him. "Don't tell me you look up to Sephiroth. The last guy that did that got his ass shot to death during a mission with him."

Sephiroth thought it over. It was halfway true. "On the contrary, I told him to lay low and stand back, and instead he got up and ran forward."

"If only you were a better leader."

"Leadership has nothing to do with an individual's listening ability. If you choose not to listen, then you choose no one as your leader except yourself. That is the first mistake."

"Listen to him," one jabbed, "trying to sound so intelligent. No one's listening, at least not to you. Why don't you go bone your new boyfriend? I'm surprised a 3rd rank would even bother with the likes of you, but I guess Lazard wants to let in a few pansies just to satisfy your hunger."

Sephiroth had kept his temper easily. He was accustomed to the badmouthing and the unnecessary lewd remarks often sent toward him. But Genesis, on the other hand, had never felt so insulted in his life. His life in Banora had been relatively well since he was the mayor's son. No one dared talked badly about him since the place was so small and quaint. It was like a sin to even think bad about others. And hearing these guys refer to him as some guy's bitch, or to assume he was a homosexual just because he was in Sephiroth's presence, hadn't settled well with him. He cracked his fist into the last guy that had treaded on the wrong waters. No one was prepared for that, and it took awhile for everyone to register what was going on. Their fights had always been verbal that having a 3rd class SOLDIER suddenly bust someone's teeth out had surprised them all. Sephiroth, being the one as a leader and the one with the reputation, knew he had to step in. He grabbed Genesis's arm and pulled the figure back harshly, placing himself in the middle of the fight to make sure nothing would happen. "No fighting. All of you get out of here. Now." The group was still trying to gain their senses about them, but with the order they grabbed up their friend whose nose was bleeding all over the place and had quickly moved off in a rather sour mood. Sephiroth turned his eyes to Genesis seeing the glow to his bright blue eyes. "I'm going to have to write you up, I hope you do realize that."

Genesis shrugged, "So? They were saying shit about you and myself. Maybe you can push that off, but I'm not going to. I did nothing to be harassed like that."

"Throwing your fist into someone's face isn't the correct way to solve that problem. You get them written up for their verbal harassment, not try to solve everything physically."

"I don't care what's correct. You break someone's nose and they'll back off for awhile."

Sephiroth sighed. There was no point in trying to argue with Genesis. The boy had gotten his sweet revenge and he would be unable to deter that. "Right. For future reference, if you do that again you can be stripped of your title."

"I think you need to learn how to dominate over them all. Give them something to fear and glorify over. If I was 1st class I'd act like I'm the greatest thing around. No one would be talking like that to my face." Genesis hesitated. "Shouldn't even be thinking it, either."

"They think such things because I'm young compared to them. They've been training far longer than I had been when I asked permission to join. They have reasons to be envious and hateful."

"I'm envious of you but I'm not trying to break you down."

"That's because you're…" Sephiroth wasn't sure what to say about Genesis. "You're just different."

Genesis didn't know if he meant that in a good way or bad way. He could tell Sephiroth wanted to say something else, but he had struggled with the words. He made Sephiroth speechless? Maybe that really was a good thing. "Everyone's got a dream…it shouldn't infringe on someone else's, and it shouldn't undermine others." Those brilliant green eyes looked back into his. "That's what Angeal always tells me, anyway."

Sephiroth wasn't surprised. Angeal always acted like he was filled with wisdom when he was only the same age as them. "Why don't you just go to bed?"

"What? Why? I mean, didn't you have something else planned for me?"

"I did, but…I changed my mind. Besides, you're still slowly getting used to the mako in your system. Get some rest and I'm sure you'll be feeling better tomorrow." Sephiroth turned his back to him and then walked off, leaving Genesis to himself.

Yet Genesis was still surprised. What had made Sephiroth change his mind?

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Well, a first chapter to something new. Not sure where or what I'm doing with this. First chapter, as usual, is rather short. Going to try and keep them around this length if it so suits my readers.

So, tell me what you think! Review and say if you like it or if you're curious about something. I'm glad to hear whatever you guys are thinking.

Until next time!


	2. Chapter 2

Another chapter for my readers. I hope you enjoy this one. It's short and sweet.

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_I didn't think I made any impression whatsoever on Sephiroth. We may have had our small talk within the week about things far more personal than he would share with the others, but I didn't think it meant anything. We didn't speak often after that, or at least he was only there to help point us in the right direction and I was too busy to stop and chat. The week had passed, I lost my chance, and soon he wasn't there to order us around. I gave up on seeing him around even though I kept a close eye out for those silver locks or to see the familiar coat he wore. I came up with nothing. It was like that for three more weeks and I began to forget about him completely. Sephiroth meant everything in the eyes of the civilians that never saw him yet always read about him. To me? I met him a few times and now it was as if those readings had gotten it all wrong. In a way I yearned to pick up another one of those magazines to fill my void of his presence, but I scolded myself for such obsessive behavior. I probably only idolized him because he was 1__st__ class. That is no reason to like him. At least, I have a feeling Angeal would say I should choose my friends wisely and on better things then titles and appearances. I should just drop the notion that I'll ever get to know him. Besides, I at least have Angeal. Some of these guys have no one for support, and I can see those are the ones who begin to seem less lively as each day goes by._

Genesis turned his eyes from the food that sat before him on his tray toward the small groups and clusters that scattered themselves amongst the cafeteria. Their somber faces even made his own attitude feel dampened. _It's depressing being here with nothing to look forward to. We've been training harder and harder, prepping ourselves for missions. Angeal's already been on one, yet he refused to talk about it for now. I'm wondering if they're that bad. Just yesterday we received news that a 3__rd__ class from the first group had been killed on his mission. We were told to be careful and to always go in well prepared. It only gives me a bad feeling that Angeal and I may, one day, be separated from each other. He's a great friend, I will admit that, and I'm scared of departing from his side. Maybe I'm just too clingy. Maybe that's why I want to see Sephiroth around here, because I grew attached and hopeful when he had talked to me those few times._

Angeal noticed the quiet behavior that Genesis was expressing during their lunch break. It wasn't normal for Genesis to be this soft-spoken or shy on a topic that was bothering him. "You should say what's on your mind."

Genesis glanced up from the mashed potatoes he had slopped around and for a moment he kept his silence up. It didn't last very long, he always told Angeal everything at some point. "I think I'm scared." Angeal leaned forward slightly for him to keep talking. "We've been training a lot for these missions that are dangerous and could actually kill us. I guess I'm afraid of being another number added on to the dead pile. I don't want to screw up, but I'm not sure how well I can trust my instincts anymore."

"Don't doubt yourself. The first mission always feels like the worst. You'll do fine when you're assigned to one."

"I suppose. When I look at everyone who comes back they look so bleak and seem so hush-hush that it makes me wonder how bad it really can be. Everyone looks lifeless…" Genesis picked up the red apple on his tray. "Sometimes I wonder if this was worth leaving Banora."

Angeal smirked, though the subject was a depressing one he couldn't help but feel glad that Genesis wasn't going into this all like a blind man. "It will be worth it. The missions aren't bad. It's just hard to take in sometimes what we're doing. But in the big picture, we're keeping our citizens safe with every action we take. It's a lot on our shoulders, but a duty we should look forward to doing every day that we wake up to." He rested a hand on Genesis's shoulder comfortingly. "It's perfectly fine to have doubts, but don't think you're going it alone."

_There it is again, Angeal's uplifting spirit always hitting the right spot. I do feel better whenever he does tell me these things. All the more reason why I need him around me all the time. Sometimes I wonder if I could ever make the right decision without him._ "Thanks. You're a great friend."

"As are you, Genesis."

Genesis gave a small frown. He was a great friend? "I don't really feel like one. What do I ever say or do to you that would make me great? I mean, you're the one who usually has the brilliant, well-thought out ideas. You give great advice. You're always optimistic." Genesis shrugged feeling like a terrible friend. "I'm nothing compared to that."

Angeal shook his head. Genesis must be feeling pretty upset if he was reacting like this. "You're entertaining, kind, generous, and your mom makes a damn good pie. What's not to like?"

There was a tiny smile that quivered on Genesis's lips until he saw him. His face lit up, perhaps more in shock then in happiness. "Look, he's back."

Sephiroth had entered in with a tray in hand and a rather bored expression on his face. But as Angeal and Genesis stared over at him the man had picked up on the look, seeing the glowing blue eyes landing on him curiously. He walked over to them, to their surprise, and he took a seat at their table. Gently he picked up the salt and pepper shaker and dressed his mashed potatoes in a few sprinkles of each before glancing at them. "Did you not want me to sit here? Your table is rather empty, I assumed you wouldn't mind."

"We don't mind," Angeal remarked. His eyes turned to Genesis. "Right?"

Genesis nodded. "I just expected you to sit with your friends."

Sephiroth had picked up a napkin from the dispenser and set it neatly beside his tray before gracefully picking up his spoon to dive in at the mashed potatoes. "Friends? That's an interesting term. Who in here do you think I'm 'friends' with?"

Genesis glanced around the room seeing everyone in their own petite, huddled groups. A few were stealing glances at them, but other than that there seemed to be no one in particular that Genesis thought would stand out as a group who'd spend time with Sephiroth. "Well…who do you normally sit with?"

"I try to talk to everyone at least once. But I normally don't come here, or I'm late so I eat by myself."

Angeal nodded, "It would be nice to get to know everyone, this group isn't that large. I'm sure it helps boost morale as well."

"That's what the Director said it would do. A few people are nervous around me, so you can imagine how hard it is for them to eat when I'm right there before them. But the large percentage of people in this place knew me when I was 3rd class, so they're not as intimidated."

Genesis kept toying with his apple as Sephiroth spoke. He felt nervous around him as well, but he also wasn't that hungry. "Even that group that hates you?"

Sephiroth shook his head as he picked up a carrot to eat since he polished off his mashed potatoes. "No, they refused to let me sit anywhere near them."

"Refused?" Angeal questioned.

"They said the seats at their table were full."

Genesis sighed. "And they weren't, were they?" Sephiroth gave a small nod. "Man. That's childish. Sounds like something you'd see in middle school or high school."

Angeal snorted while he ate his peas. A smirk came onto his face and he pointed a finger at Genesis. "That reminds me of the time you told that Susan girl she couldn't sit next to you because someone else was sitting there, and when she found out you were lying she clobbered the hell out of you."

"Because Susan was on steroids or something," Genesis defended himself. He looked over at Sephiroth. "She was like a man with pigtails. There was nothing cute about her."

Angeal chuckled, "I don't know…it was pretty cute how during Valentine's Day she'd stick secret admirer notes in your locker."

"She also put a dead squirrel in my gym bag."

Sephiroth listened to them curiously. He wasn't used to school stories, most of the guys he talked to gave him small talk that their missions were going well and they were looking forward to doing more missions. Someone with a background that linked to someone else in the group was rather different and intriguing to him. "She liked you?"

Genesis nodded. "It was one of those creepy stalker type things. She'd spy on me and I'd try to hide from her. I mean, she was probably the nastiest looking chick you can imagine." His eyes met Sephiroth's and he remembered Sephiroth's taste in women. There was hardly any perception on him. "Let me describe her. Okay, pretend Angeal had boobs and had his hair in pigtails, and then really nasty teeth. And one giant wart right on his nose. That was basically her. A man-woman thing. I'm pretty sure she had more leg hair than you have on your head."

Sephiroth's face was calm as he explained what she looked like. "You didn't like how she looked, I imagine?"

Genesis laughed. "Okay I know your taste in humans is minimal, but I thought you'd at least know the difference between an ugly person and an attractive person. You don't even have to be attracted to anything to think someone looks decent."

Angeal looked over at Sephiroth. His taste in humans? Genesis made it sound rather creepy. "Wait, what exactly are we talking about?"

Genesis spoke up before Sephiroth could even make a comment. "You know how I lost that training session at 4 in the morning because I was sick and Sephiroth was going to can my ass? Well we began discussing why he was single and whatever, and he said it was because he wasn't attracted to girls."

Angeal's expression changed slightly. "Wait. Just girls?"

Sephiroth shook his head, "No, I said I wasn't attracted to _either_. Careful what you say, someone's going to take it the wrong way."

Genesis laughed, "Sorry. Guys or girls. Anyway, I pointed out some hot girls and he was completely unresponsive."

"My apologies for not caring for how large a woman's breasts are," Sephiroth quipped back.

Angeal smirked before glancing between the two of them. "You did the same test for guys?"

"There weren't any guys around, really, so I asked if he found me attractive and he said I was 'normal' just like everyone else."

A thoughtful 'ah' came from Angeal before he glanced at Sephiroth. "No wonder Sephiroth can't answer correctly, we all know that Genesis has an ugly mug."

Genesis glared, "Har har, you're so funny."

But Angeal only laughed and gave a punch to Genesis's arm. "I'm only joking. Though this makes me curious." He turned his attention to Sephiroth. "You said you grew up here in Midgar. Where did you go to school?"

Sephiroth had been relatively hesitant on the subject. It was personal, but then again these two didn't seem like the type to gossip aside from between each other. "I actually grew up here and was schooled here."

Genesis didn't get it for a minute, as if Sephiroth had left out an entire syllable in his words. "You mean…in this building?"

"Yes."

"Oh. Weird. I didn't know they schooled people here."

"They don't. At least not _just_ anyone."

"Oh I get it, your mom or dad must have worked here and asked for you to get the best education, right? I can imagine learning here would make anyone a genius."

Sephiroth didn't know if he should go ahead with the truth or not. He never spoke up about his personal life, and Genesis had been the first person to hear anything out of him about what he liked or disliked. These two probably talked to him more than anyone else in SOLDIER, and he had been there for a little over two years now. Would it be harmful for him to open up to these two? "I've never met my parents, so no. It wasn't because they worked here."

Never met his parents? Genesis had never read that about Sephiroth. "Oh…what happened to them?"

Sephiroth shook his head, "I don't know, I wasn't given details."

Angeal finished his drink and set the glass down. "Have you asked?"

"No."

Genesis toyed with the apple still. "Why not? Aren't you curious? I mean, what if they're still alive?"

Sephiroth shrugged, the first time he ever gave an indifferent approach to answering someone's question. "If they're alive it means they abandoned me, so it'll only be a burden for me to come back and bother them."

Genesis shook his head. "How did you come to being here, then? I mean, how did Shinra explain that?"

"I don't know. They didn't tell me that either. I'm assuming I was either dropped off or found."

"You're not going to ask about that either?"

"Would those details affect me in any way? I don't think so. There's no reason to get worked up over something that means so little. What two people lost or gave up has given the rest of the world a savior. Their sacrifice can be easily dismissed."

Genesis hadn't thought of it that way. Maybe it felt unsettling because it seemed so open-ended and mysterious. Why would someone abandon Sephiroth? "I guess I'm just weird, I'd be curious as hell to figure out everything. I like finding the answers to questions that bother me."

Sephiroth had finished off everything on his plate by now and started to question what he had been saying. "I never bothered worrying about it." But in reality, he had questioned himself several times about his time in Shinra and who his parents were. He never asked anyone about it because he didn't want to seem like the type that was searching for something that he could never obtain. In fact, though no one knew about it, part of the reason he had strove so hard to become 1st class was a small hope in someone revealing themselves as his parents. It never happened. He did feel disappointed, but then again…he lost something he never had in the first place. So, in actuality, he couldn't feel too upset over it. "Are you going to eat that?"

Genesis looked at the red apple that Sephiroth had asked about. He shook his head. "No it's too bitter. Do you want it?"

Sephiroth nodded and was given the apple easily enough. "How is it bitter? Apples are rather sweet."

"Dumb Apples are far sweeter than those. They've got a nice bite to them. These taste flavorless in comparison."

"Dumb Apples?" Sephiroth questioned his wording.

"Banora Whites. In Banora they're called Dumb Apples because the trees bloom in odd seasons of the year." Angeal smirked. "Surely you've tried one before."

Sephiroth shook his head, "I haven't."

"Not even the juice?" Genesis questioned. He had hoped that Sephiroth would have at least tried that since he was the one who came up with the recipe.

"No. It doesn't come directly here at Headquarters, they usually pay the grocery store that's not too far from here for a box of it. But I'm rarely here, and I rarely eat in the cafeteria. So, as you can see, I've never had an opportunity to try it."

There went a small part of Genesis's hope. "Oh. Where do you usually eat?"

"Since I'm on missions it's either whatever packets of dried food you're given or whatever you can catch based on where you're at. If not there, then in my room I can make something."

Genesis frowned, "You have a kitchen in your room? I don't remember seeing that."

"It's the door on the opposite wall of my closet. You were too busy sleeping to see anything."

Genesis wondered why he had missed a detail like that. Too busy sleeping? Pff. He had been sick during that time, of course he wasn't going to remember much of anything. "Your closet was nice aside from all the crap in it."

Sephiroth glanced at him and then at the time. "Don't you two have things to do?"

Genesis and Angeal both stared at the clock feeling like their break needed to be longer. Genesis sighed and nodded, "Yeah."

But Angeal was the smart one. "What are you doing tonight, Sephiroth?"

Sephiroth thought over his schedule, "I have tonight off since I just returned from a mission. So, sleeping."

"You could do that….or you could join Genesis and I for some fun."

Genesis wondered what 'fun' meant. He didn't know Angeal had something planned for them. Or was he making it up as he went just so that they had a reason to be around Sephiroth more? Would a 1st class really want to bother with two 3rd class operatives?

"What does your fun exactly entail?"

"It wouldn't be a surprise if I told you. Don't worry, it'll all come out of Genesis's wallet."

Genesis frowned, "Oh thanks."

Angeal smirked back at him. "You owe me a few favors. This will make up for it."

Sephiroth glanced between the two before giving a small nod. "I suppose I'll join you if that's what you want. I'll be in my room for the rest of the day."

"We'll be sure to bang on your door anytime we get a break just to make sure you're still alive," Angeal remarked before watching Sephiroth leave with his things. He grabbed up his own and looked at Genesis. "Have you noticed that Sephiroth seems more interactive to us then anyone else?"

"A little, yeah. I was surprised he told us about his parents."

"Right. Something personal, yet he told us from the beginning he doesn't talk about his personal life. You know what that means…" Angeal paused and glanced at his friend with a cheery smile. "He likes us."

"He might just generally find us intriguing because we know each other."

"No, he would have only listened if he only cared about that aspect of us. He did mention he didn't have friends."

"You think he wants us to be his friends?"

"Why not? He notices that you and I have been friends for a long time. Intriguing to him, perhaps, but that also means we've never had a bad conflict between each other that would ruin our friendship. A person who wants friends would want a friendship that would last. After watching us interact he's already determined if he likes us, and so far he keeps coming back for more."

"I never really thought about it that way."

"Sephiroth strategizes things because he's too shy to do it any other way."

"Oh. Yeah okay that makes sense."

"You know what else this means?"

Genesis shook his head. He didn't think this could go beyond the reasons that Angeal had already given. "What else could there be?"

"That he's attracted to us." Angeal looked at his friend. "In a non-sexual way, of course, but there's an attraction. We're the only people so far that have piqued his interest in this way. At least from what I can see."

"Oh. Hey, you're right. That actually makes me feel better that someone like Sephiroth would want to spend time with us. I mean, I suppose I've never pictured the two of us ever having a third person in our friendship." Genesis headed down the hallways with his friend, knowing they'd have to split up soon. "But having Sephiroth as a friend would be nifty."

Angeal lost his smirk. "Because he's 1st class?" He thought that Genesis wouldn't have such shallow thinking, but he had to remember that not everyone was modest with their thoughts.

Yet Genesis didn't actually think that way. "No. It's not because of that, surprisingly enough. The day that I had talked to him before we disappeared for his missions I had actually felt…something. Like a connection. I'm not sure how to describe it, but it was a good vibe I was getting from him. The kind I get from you because I know you're my friend and I can trust you."

"Ah, well that's an instinct, and a good one at that. I had that feeling as well talking to him today." Angeal stopped as their roads now forked in different directions. "Start thinking of fun things for us to do tonight. I'll tell you my idea once we're back in our room."

Genesis nodded, "All right, partner." He watched as Angeal soon went off. With a small, hopeful breath Genesis went down his own.

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_Man I am so tired. I've been anxious all day to see what Angeal has planned for us that I couldn't come up with any good ideas for late night time together. Maybe Sephiroth will just want to talk again? I keep asking myself that same damn question and then I always remember Sephiroth doesn't talk too much. We'd run out of things to say so damn quickly…_ Genesis popped the door open and came in finding Angeal already there. "Okay. Tell me your plans."

"Make yourself look nice. We're going out to eat."

Genesis nodded, "Sweet. Did you plan anything beyond that?"

"No."

Genesis shook his head. "I couldn't think of anything. Maybe we'll think of something while we're eating?"

"Quite possibly."

Genesis struggled out of his clothes to put something nicer on. If Angeal wasn't going to wear the Shinra gear then he had no reason to keep his uniform on as well. Now that he thought about it, he wondered what Sephiroth looked like without his trademark outfit. He hadn't ever thought of the guy having 'casual Fridays' or dressing down on off days. "Have you talked to Sephiroth?"

"Yup. I woke up him up and told him what we're doing, he should be ready any minute now."

"Good." Genesis smoothed down his shirt against his abs, "You know, if everything goes well I wonder if we'll take him to the bar?"

Angeal laughed, "What, you want to see how he'd react to a girl rubbing herself all over him?"

"Yeah, it'd be funny to watch." Genesis glanced at himself in the mirror and fixed his hair slightly before nodding. "Okay. I'm ready."

When they moved over to Sephiroth's door Genesis didn't bother knocking, and he let the door slide wide open. Sephiroth was brushing his hair. "You could knock first, you never know what I might be doing in here."

Would Sephiroth actually do anything weird in his room? "Well, considering you have no attraction to anything, I can't imagine whatever you're doing in here being disgusting or bad."

"What if I walk around naked all the time? Then what?" Sephiroth set the brush down as he finished and rose. He looked sharp in his attire, but Genesis had never noticed that Sephiroth was rather lean and lanky without his shoulder pads on.

"I'd visit more often," Genesis joked.

Sephiroth had fallen silent as he turned the lights off and locked his room up. He thought it was odd that Genesis would admit to such things. When did the boy become fascinated in seeing him naked? "I thought you said you didn't like boys?"

"I don't? I was joking. Don't tell me you've never exposed yourself to humor before."

"You didn't sound like you were joking."

Angeal decided to break in, "That's because Genesis only knows how to speak in two ways. Either like he's completely serious, or he's like a total dumbass. So, you'd either get a rather confusing question about visiting you more often, or you get what you just got."

"If I had to choose," Sephiroth remarked, "I'd prefer Genesis to be serious. It would make everything he says a mystery whether he meant it or not."

But Angeal wasn't sure about that. "You want Genesis's behavior around you to be mysterious? Do you know how badly that could wind up?"

"You make it sound like I'm out to rape him," Genesis complained.

They had reached the outdoors and heard the buzzing of life begin around them. The sky above was rather dark and gloomy, but a few glowing signs had lit up the place in the moon's absence. "So, Sephiroth, how often do you go out to eat?" Angeal glanced behind as the man was casually walking with them.

"Not often."

"Why not?"

"I wouldn't mind doing it more often…but I'm too busy. Once I get back from missions I'm too tired to get out of bed, and if I do have energy I'd rather not go out since it's nice to be inside my room for once."

"Sounds rough."

"I'm used to it."

Genesis held the door open for them when they got to the restaurant and eased their way inside. They were escorted to their seats promptly and handed some menus. When their waitress walked off Sephiroth glanced through the items before speaking up. "There's another reason why I don't go out very often."

Genesis perked up. Sephiroth didn't need to be prompted this time to speak. What else could he have to say? "What's that?"

"Just watch our waitress, you'll see."

They weren't sure what he meant by that, so they waited for the perky girl to return to their table. Her eyes buzzed over them before locking right on Sephiroth. She nervously smiled and giggled slightly before pointing at him. "You're Sephiroth, right? The legendary Hero? The one and only 1st class SOLDIER?"

Sephiroth gave a small nod, "I am."

Her hand went to her mouth to contain the squeal she was about to let out. When her hand removed itself from her face she blurted out, "May I have your autograph?"

He wasn't going to be a jerk and say no. "Yes, you may."

Her smile was plastered all over her face when he said that. "Thanks! Okay, let me get your orders and I'll bring you something to sign." They had ordered and she went off bubbly as ever. Genesis and Angeal glanced between each other before landing their eyes on Sephiroth.

"She's pretty cute, I don't see why you wouldn't want to go to restaurants more often," Genesis pestered.

Angeal reinforced Genesis's statement. "I agree, that would probably make my day if it happened every time I went out to eat."

"Both of you are focusing on the person that does the motions rather than the motion itself. Asking someone for their autograph, don't you find that somewhat detrimental?"

"To what? It's perfectly healthy to look up to someone," Genesis argued.

"Idolizing over someone who isn't in your field of work seems rather defeating of the purpose."

"You protect the Planet. What's not to idolize? We draw hopes from your strength."

The girl came back over to them and handed each their drink before she handed over the picture. It was one he hadn't seen before, but he did feel like it was rather familiar. It was him leaning against some railing looking down at his reflection in the water. Genesis gave an approving nod. "You look nice there."

Sephiroth looked for a good spot to sign. "Almost a shame I'm ruining it."

The girl giggled, "Well, having the real deal would be even better than the picture, but I don't think you come with a price tag."

Angeal smirked, "That means it's free."

Genesis snorted, "Only if you can pick it up and carry it out without the owner noticing."

Sephiroth gave a small chuckle which caught all of their attention. "Sorry, but I just tried to imagine her carrying me out of Headquarters." The others laughed at the image as well. This girl was pretty short, and there wasn't much to her.

"You might be surprised at what I can do," she finally defended herself, though with that perkiness about her.

"I think she's challenging you," Genesis remarked.

"Oh, I'd have to forfeit."

"Why?"

"My arms are sore."

The waitress gave another bubbly laugh, "That's okay, you could probably beat me without lifting a finger. Let me get your dinner so you boys can finally eat."

Genesis had waited for the girl to move off before turning his attention back to Sephiroth. He was relatively surprised at how he handled the situation, but he had a feeling that Sephiroth normally deflected all conversations before they could even get that far. "Are your arms actually sore or were you just saying that?"

"They're actually sore, I just finished with a mission earlier this morning that lasted for quite awhile. Or don't you remember that I was absent?" Sephiroth took a sip of his drink while Genesis pondered about the missions.

"Sore from doing what?"

Sephiroth had realized that was a stupid question but answered it anyway, "From killing people with my sword. Try swiping your blade through the air repeatedly for an entire week. I think you'd feel tired after awhile."

Angeal interjected, "I think Genesis believes you're too superhuman to get sore."

But Genesis quickly rejected that notion. "No, I just didn't realize he was killing that many things for that long." There was some hesitation until he decided to offer up some help. "I could massage your arms later if that would make it any better."

Sephiroth didn't know what to say. He quickly looked over to Angeal wondering what he had to say about Genesis's massages. Were they actually worth it or was Genesis joking around? He really was a mystery.

"You should take him up on that offer, he actually has a magic touch when it comes to massages. Once I kinked my back pretty badly while helping with our apple harvest and Genesis came over saying that he could help. I thought he was going to hurt me more than help, but as soon as he finished I never felt better." Angeal had said it with a serious face as well, so Sephiroth could tell it wasn't a lie. Maybe it wouldn't be such a bad idea.

"All right. Perhaps later."

Their dinner had gone relatively well. Genesis felt pretty pleased that Sephiroth was enjoying himself, or at least showing some interest in the conversations they had, and he believed that their friendship would definitely grow. Perhaps they were still in the beginning awkward stages of being friends, but it didn't feel like it'd stay there for long.

Genesis watched Sephiroth finish off the rest of his food. "You know, I just kind of noticed this but you eat a lot. I mean, you do a lot of crap but my goddess you can eat."

Sephiroth had picked up the last bread roll when Genesis made this comment. He never noticed how much he ate because during his missions he normally went days without meals. "Is there something wrong with that?"

Angeal smirked. "He's saying you'd be a fatass if you weren't in SOLDIER."

"Perhaps. I don't eat that often. During missions you're too worried about your surroundings to even think about if you're hungry."

"You get worried?" Genesis questioned.

"Yes, all humans worry about something."

"Sorry, I guess I just never expected you to express much emotion."

Sephiroth wondered why. "Is it because I'm 1st class you think that way?"

"I'm not sure. I guess it's just your personality." Genesis toyed with the napkin he had used.

"Hmm. I've been told I'm rather moody," Sephiroth reflected. He had finished his meal, as large as it was, he was the only one that had finished his plate and then some. After Genesis paid for them, and their waitress frolicked about them until they left, Sephiroth felt as if he should return to his room and be finished with it all. On the contrary, it wasn't like he didn't want to be around them. As oddly as it sounded, he was enjoying these 3rd class kids far more than anyone else he had been around in his life. Still, he didn't want to become too personal to two others that he had no idea would last beyond the first week.

But Genesis was focused on being around the guy as much as he could. He didn't want to break from him just yet. "Hey, we can go to your room and I can give you that massage you wanted."

Sephiroth glanced toward him before nodding, "That sounds fine." It'd be easier to chase them away when he needed to. They arrived within his room and Sephiroth was treated to a very nice massage. He had never thought that arms could be massaged from their soreness, but Genesis somehow made the pain go away. "Maybe instead of being in SOLDIER you should become my personal assistant? I'm sure President Shinra would understand."

Genesis smirked. "What exactly would that pay me?"

"We could negotiate."

"Does it feel that good?"

"Yes, as unbelievable as that may be, it feels very nice."

Angeal nodded solemnly, "Told you."

Genesis continued his work. He wondered if he kept this up if that meant Sephiroth would like him more. Was it sad that he was willing to try anything to get him to be his friend? "I'd give you a full body massage, but this is just our first date. Wouldn't want to move too fast."

Sephiroth assumed that was a joke. "How many dates does it take to get a full body massage?"

"Good question. I've never got there before, but I have been somewhat tipsy enough to do it to some girl I didn't know."

Angeal rolled his eyes, "He looks for good excuses to touch someone inappropriately."

"Massaging isn't inappropriate," Genesis defended himself.

"When you're drunk and you're mostly groping it is."

Sephiroth let Genesis work on the other arm, his body appreciating each moment that it was allowed to enjoy the soothing touch. "I'm not sure if I want to go that far for a massage. You might grab something you shouldn't."

Genesis couldn't imagine what he would do if that ever happened. Probably die. Yeah. Dying would sound pretty rational if he put his hands down Sephiroth's pants. "If we were both drunk you'd never know."

That had Sephiroth worried. "Well, now that you've given me that warning, I'll be sure not to drink with you."

Genesis shrugged, "What if you like it?"

"Hmm. If I liked you touching me? I wonder what would happen then."

"You are 1st class, you could probably rape someone and no one would be able to point fingers at you."

"Oh yes, they'd say that you wanted it. I'll keep that in mind if I ever decide to plow through the 3rd rankers."

Angeal and Genesis laughed at that. Oh the imagery. Genesis started on Sephiroth's shoulders, letting his fingers work around all of the taut muscles that were hidden underneath his shirt. "I'm still surprised that you don't find people attractive," Genesis heckled.

"If I was would it make any difference?"

"Of course," Angeal chimed, "It'd make Genesis fight that much harder for your attention."

"Would not," Genesis griped. "You're going to make everyone think I'm into guys if you keep those comments up."

"On the contrary, some of your own words lead people astray," Sephiroth admitted.

"It couldn't be because he's grabbing up your body at the moment," Angeal humored. But he could see the glare he was receiving from his friend. "Calm down, Genesis, I'm only joking around."

Genesis would have shot back an insult, but as he brushed his fingers against Sephiroth's sides, the figure jolted slightly. It had caught his attention and made him wonder if Sephiroth was ticklish. "Don't tell me that our 1st class SOLDIER has soft spots. Did that tickle?"

Yet Sephiroth shook his head, "No, that spot is tender. I was stabbed there during a mission and it's still recovering."

"Still? How long has it been?"

"Several months."

"You were stabbed even though you're in 1st class?" Genesis couldn't believe it.

"I was saving a civilian against an enemy and I hadn't expected them to try a shot at me. Just because I'm in the top rank doesn't necessarily mean that I'm invincible."

"It'd be cool if you were," Genesis claimed.

Angeal snorted, "You're a dork." He received another infamous scowl from his friend. "If you keep doing that your face is going to stick that way."

"Only if I keep looking at you."

Sephiroth turned to look at Genesis and was surprised to see the look on his face. "Do you two fight often?"

"Fighting? This isn't fighting, this is like…child's play," Genesis corrected him. "I don't think Angeal and I have ever fought over anything." Angeal shook his head, unable to recall a time when they weren't friends.

"Oh. It's hard to tell. The two of you say a lot of things that I would have considered unfriendly toward each other, but I suppose I'm wrong."

"Yeah. We might say something but we hardly ever mean it." Genesis finally grabbed at Sephiroth's hair and braided it. "When you're close friends with someone you could say anything you really want without being judged."

Sephiroth glanced back and saw Genesis toying around with his silver locks. He smacked the redhead's hands and began to undo the braid. "I'm not a doll, you can't play with me."

Genesis rubbed his hands, he hadn't expected that. But it only made him smile. "You sure? I thought that's why you had long hair!"

"No." His response was very blunt and there was no explanation or comeback.

"It smells nice. Was that a part of your scheme as well?"

"My scheme to do what?"

"Stun your enemies with your aroma."

Angeal chuckled, "I think I wouldn't be very stunned if I fought someone with lilac scented shampoo. That would just hint to me that I'm too close and about to get my head chopped off."

"It doesn't smell like lilacs," Genesis murmured.

"Because it isn't, and no I'm not telling you what it is. And no, you may not get closer to find out," Sephiroth declared.

"Now look whose playing mysterious. Must be something fruity or flowery if you're too embarrassed to say."

Sephiroth shook his head. He wasn't embarrassed at all. "I'm not embarrassed about shampoo."

"Really…"

"Yes. If you're dying to know my secret, it's 13 different shampoos mixed into one."

"Huh. That's pretty creative. Keeps everyone guessing, that's for sure."

Angeal couldn't even imagine what 13 scents mixed together would still smell nice, but then again…Sephiroth had long hair. He probably experimented with that stuff. "Sephiroth, do you really care what the media thinks about your looks?"

"I've never bothered to read what they have to say about me, so no. I don't care."

"You've done interviews though, right?" Genesis asked.

"Only a few. They never asked me why I look the way I do."

"But you're not a particular fan of getting your picture taken, are you?" Angeal bargained.

"Not really." Sephiroth wondered what had brought on this topic. It wasn't too personal, was it? Well. Genesis already knew about his shampoo and him getting stabbed. Talking about getting his picture taken couldn't be that bad…

"Why's that?" Genesis questioned.

"It's unsettling."

"Unsettling?"

"Yes. There's something about the intentions behind it. I always wonder how many pictures they take in the few seconds that we cross paths. Tens? Hundreds? Is there someone out there who has thousands of pictures of me and I don't even know who they are?" Sephiroth gently shook his head. "At first, when they take your picture amongst your comrades you think nothing of it. But when it becomes just yourself, and their eyes are always on you wherever you go…it makes you wary."

Genesis hadn't thought about that. It did sound a bit overwhelming, but Sephiroth seemed to handle it all very well. "But you don't bother reading anything they publish."

"No. I look at the pictures sometimes. Everyone's allowed to be a little self conscious, right?"

Genesis nodded, "Yeah I suppose. Find any pictures you like?"

Sephiroth's signature smirk gently played across his lips, eyes brightening at the thought of what pictures he had liked. He had torn a few pictures out of magazines with himself in it and shoved them away into a book. It was like his own photo album, though the pictures were mostly of him in SOLDIER. He hardly had any of his childhood besides the few photos that someone might have taken of him during his stay at the Headquarters. Should he really bother showing these 3rd rankers those pictures? Then again… His eyes glanced between the two. They were nice people. Though he didn't want to be personal with anyone, they had been relatively friendly so far. They even took him out to eat and paid for him, he should at least show some gratitude. If they wanted to see his favorite picture then they could obviously do just that. He got up and went over to the closet, pushing aside some crap and watching most of it topple onto other things. He reached into the abyss and pulled out a dusty black album which he wiped off with his hand. Quickly he flipped through it before finding the right picture and he handed the album to Genesis. "There. The one on the right."

Genesis curiously absorbed what was set before him and was surprised to see a bloody, dirty Sephiroth heroically helping a bashed up woman that had a baby bundled up in her arms. "That's interesting. You look busy."

"The building she was living in had been overrun by monsters. It was on the verge of collapse. She lived on one of the higher levels. We were told not to travel too high because of the buildings structure, but I went all the way up to pursue any civilians and to kill off as many monsters as I could. When I found her she said the floor was empty but that she couldn't escape because the elevators weren't working. You can't see it, but that woman has been unable to use her legs for years. I decided I had a choice: either continue upward and find more people with the risk of dying coming closer, or to save this woman and possibly risk having unknown civilian casualties happen in the upper part of the building. I went with a gut feeling and carried her all the way down. When we got out the building toppled. I saved her life and her son's life." Sephiroth looked toward the window at the blackened night outside. "She sent me photos of him, saying thanks for giving her boy a chance."

Angeal smiled at that, "That is quite a story for one photo. You must feel enlightened to know that your risks helped someone."

"I did. Though…" Sephiroth hesitated. "She died a few months later. She had been battling with health problems for years." He bashfully looked to the floor, "Someone asked me if I would adopt her kid. I may have saved his life, but do I need to take ownership of it as well? Besides. I was young at the time it happened, I doubt I'd be able to handle a baby."

"Understandable, it wasn't your responsibility to take care of the child," Angeal responded.

"The most I could do was recommend it to some foster parents. I checked on the living conditions and the people who were taking care of him. But that was it. Director Lazard told me not to take it personal about the kid. He said that it'll happen thousands of times, and that I can't make everything perfect for the abandoned kids out there."

"But you want to, right?" Genesis asked.

"One of the few reasons why I'm in this line of work," Sephiroth commented. He noticed that Genesis started to paw through a few of the other pictures, but he didn't bother to stop him. Curiosity wasn't a completely terrible thing.

"Aww," Genesis cooed as he pointed at a picture, "It's a tiny Sephiroth." The picture showed Sephiroth when he was close to the age of five holding onto a table, giving the camera a confused look. "If they had bathtub shots of you then I'd really laugh. My mom did those types of things."

Sephiroth shook his head, "I don't think I'd save those types of pictures."

Genesis pointed out another one. "Ha, you even ate a lot when you were a kid. Look at you." It had Sephiroth sitting at a table with a fork in his mouth and a plate full of food before him, though the expression on his face looked pretty perturbed. "You look grumpy, too."

"I was eating, it's unnecessary to take pictures when someone's eating. It's called common courtesy."

Genesis looked at the next page and noticed some of the age gaps. "You don't have a lot of pictures of when you were little."

"Did you expect more?"

Genesis shrugged. "I don't know…people like taking pictures of little kids. Someone should have taken more of you."

"Perhaps they did and didn't give me the picture? It's not like they had to hand it over."

"I suppose." Genesis looked through more of them and found that most of the pictures were concentrated on Sephiroth during his time in SOLDIER, especially if it was a magazine shot. When he shut the album he looked up at Sephiroth and bashfully handed it back, "Sorry, I didn't even ask to look at any of those. That was rude of me."

Sephiroth took the album from the redhead's grasp and he shook his head in return. "No, it's fine. I keep forgetting I even have it." He let it flop onto an empty spot back in the closet. "I'd fill it with more pictures, but as you can see the only ones I find are from magazines."

"We could fill it together," Genesis suggested. He noticed the odd looks given to him by Angeal and Sephiroth. "Whenever we're hanging out, we should remember to take a picture, that way you can fill it up with some great memories."

"Together," Sephiroth repeated that word to himself. What a concept. The three of them as friends? Was he out of his mind? "How often do you expect us to be around each other? I'm 1st class, you're 3rd. My missions take me across the Planet, yours bind you here." Sephiroth glanced at them. "It'd be a rare occasion for us to see each other."

"Unless we rise in our ranks," Genesis fought back. "Angeal and I were in the top ranks during the entry exams. You shouldn't take that so lightly and believe that we will stay at 3rd class forever."

"Correct, I should be wary of such a belief. However, you don't pass through the ranks without years of experience. Shinra only boosts it's ranks if it comes to a crunch. You see, if enough people in SOLDIER are killed then the Director promotes people to a higher status. Those operatives are then able to command infantrymen and newly added 3rd class operatives. But in that situation, it doesn't matter how good you are, it all depends on how quickly you can devise a plan to stop our operatives from dropping like flies. We're supposed to be a super power, but that doesn't stop us from dying. If you survived through such a situation like that…" Sephiroth pushed his hair out of his way. "Then I could see us talking more often. Unless you fascinate the Director I don't think you'll budge from your position. Everyone has been in a standstill."

Angeal held his hand up so Genesis wouldn't snap or say anything stupid. "Don't worry, we'll fascinate him all right."

"What?" Genesis questioned Angeal. He was starting to lose faith already, what was Angeal seeing that he wasn't?

"Genesis…we grew up together and we've gone from measly farmers to operatives with some training. If we continue with our goals, with this training, we will eventually ascend in rank. It's inevitable." Angeal cautiously looked to Sephiroth before giving a thoughtful smile, and his looked spaced a moment as if remembering something good. "Embrace your dreams, whatever they may be."

_There he's done it again, baffled me unintentionally with his skillful articulation of goals and dreams. How does he do it? And every time he speaks like this I fall for it over and over again. I'm like a love-sick crooner that gets over a crush and falls for it all over again. It's so true, how our dreams are almost a reality. Look at the two of us, we've gone from nothing to something with our training. We have to be different than the others, I will not believe otherwise. We can prove to Sephiroth we're something. And if that's not Angeal's goal…then I'll make sure it's kept as mine._

Genesis finally broke into a smile and nodded in agreement to Angeal's statement before he rose up. "He's right, we'll get there." He snapped his attention toward Sephiroth who had kept his poised position throughout the daring speech. "You'll see, Sephiroth, we'll be right beside you one day. And, who knows? Perhaps beating you at your own game."

Yet Sephiroth looked unaffected by his declaration. So many before him had said the same thing, and most have fallen to their deaths. Sephiroth knew he would have to push the two away and let them try and follow their murderous dream. He knew he'd have to let them die in battle since he would not be there to protect them. They'd never reach him. And with those thoughts, he was almost plagued with sadness.

He quietly pulled out his phone and skimmed through his emails before arriving at a particular one where he scrolled through it and found what he was looking for. Gently Sephiroth brought his eyes over to Genesis and his smile played against his lips, though it was fake. "Your first mission is tomorrow. Perhaps you can prove to me then if you're up to such a challenge?"

There. He had bound Genesis to his own fate. He'd become reckless and die, and soon after Angeal would die without his friend. Then Sephiroth would be alone again, as it was before, and things would fall back into their regular rut. He didn't need friends, did he?

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Tada! Next time we might seem some interesting action! I thought this would be a nice second chapter, still in its introductory phases in a way. Anyway, please review and leave some comments! I like reading what you guys think.


	3. Chapter 3

Another chapter for my fans! Here's some quirky goofy randomness to satisfy you all. Enjoy!

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"Now remember, keep calm and just think about the mission's objective. Don't get caught up in what Sephiroth said to you, all right? You'll do fine if you remember to focus," Angeal counseled Genesis. They had just gotten up and Genesis had his mission to go to for the day. It was obvious Genesis was nervous yet excited to go, and Angeal knew he'd have to keep the boy in line before sending him off. "To rise in our ranks we must make sure to take careful steps throughout all of our missions. Be quick but efficient."

"Yeah, I know," Genesis muttered. He stretched in hopes that a good warm up would mean a good job. "I'm sure I'll do fine." He had to keep saying that to himself in hopes it'd come true. "Focus. Right." He glanced over to his half-dressed friend and smirked, "How do I look?"

Angeal wondered why his looks mattered now of all times. Then again, Genesis always asked that question before he did anything. "Beautiful," Angeal replied.

Genesis would have argued but he wanted to keep all the good vibes he was getting. He'd just have to take it as a compliment. By the time he had left to arrive at his station he noticed a man there he had yet to really see. He was a blonde male with a sharp jaw line and high cheekbones, and he had darkly set glasses resting on his nose. His outfit was decorated in purple and his gloves were white and elegant. Genesis noticed he had a very nice smile as well.

"You must be Genesis Rhapsodos?" the figure asked and Genesis nodded. "Good. I'm Director Lazard, it's nice to meet you in person. Sephiroth mentioned that you were one of the better ones during entry exams."

"When did he mention that?" Genesis pondered how often Sephiroth would talk about him. It wasn't like the guy was around that often to gossip.

"This morning," Lazard casually replied. "Are you prepared? There's materia over in that room with any equipment you might find necessary to take with you."

This morning? What the hell, Sephiroth. Genesis wanted to know what that guy was up to… Instead he went ahead and made his way to get fully prepared, though he didn't take a helmet or extra armor, and moved out to his destination. The mission was to gather stolen items. Supposedly there were six important machines taken by the enemy and he had to eradicate a building and retrieve all six. Genesis was rather concerned why he was doing this mission by himself, but as soon as he entered into the area he felt rather confident that he could do this alone. It wasn't until a dog-like beast came dashing around the corner that he felt himself panic. _Stay calm, remember what Angeal said! This mission can't be that hard._ His rapier, which he decided to use over the standard Shinra blades, had struck the creature and soon sliced it down before he could get hurt. His eyes swooped over the crimson blade and saw the gleam of blood streaking across it. Then his eyes struck back over the animal and noticed the lifeless look in its eyes, the tongue stuck out slightly and its fur was matted with blood. He almost bent down to touch it, as if the animal was only slumbering before him. His hand hesitated as he moved to do so, but he noticed he was quivering. Quickly he pulled his hand back and took a deep breath. _It's only a slaughtered animal. I have to continue onward with my mission._

His boots clomped on the metal floor and echoed that he was clearly there and prepared to cut down anyone else. He slid around a corner and found himself in a room with three other men. Shit! Without thinking Genesis sent a hurling ball of fire at the first person before him and sliced his rapier into the man's back. He could feel the blade grind and stick hard as it tore into his tissue and muscle. The scream of pain caused Genesis to pull back quickly, shirking from the pained figure. He saw all of the blood drenching the man's front and he could see the details of the torn flesh trying to be hidden within the man's hands. _Don't just stare! The others, hurry!_ Genesis turned to face his opponents and had to raise his blade instantly as a vertical strike almost hit him. His heart was racing as he noticed the other preparing to blast him with magic. _No, don't let that happen!_ He twisted himself in a tight circle and let his blade swing against the enemies, and when he swooped in a full turn he let his rapier gain full contact against his opponent's neck. He felt it again, that tugging on the blade to just drop instead of continue forth, and then he felt the muscles and bone. The blood came quickly after, and Genesis felt it splatter onto him. _Don't look. Get the other figure._ His eyes lurched toward the remaining man and saw the fireball forming in his hand. Genesis moved toward him and jumped in the air, rapier pointed at his throat. It felt like slow motion, and when he struck against him he felt the burning sensation touch his skin. He didn't back off and only followed through with falling on top of the dead figure, the blood now soaking his own front. Genesis jolted off of him and pulled his sword away, seeing the crimson color more dominant than ever before. Then pain flowed into him and his eyes went toward what had happened. A part on his shirt had been scorched and beneath it he could see the blistered and red skin. As if that wary sensation of pain had awakened him, his eyes deftly took in the bloody and massacred people before him. They were wearing helmets so he couldn't see their eyes and for that he was glad. If it were anything like the dog's he would feel sick with grief. These three men were the first people he had ever killed. Would this guilty feeling of taking someone's life ever go away? Would their still bodies and lost warmth become numb to him at some point? And this blood, that soaked his very core, would it stop being as bright as it was right now?

He hoped so. _Quit thinking about it. Keep going. We have treasures to find._

Four hours later Genesis had retrieved five of the six items and had killed off almost the entire enemy. Though with each kill he would feel even worse and guiltier as if he'd be convicted of a crime for such things. Someone's helmet had come off during one of his battles, and when he had to end the boy's life he almost lost it. The kid looked to be close to his own age, maybe even younger. How young could a person be before being drafted into such criminal activity? And himself, having to destroy a life that could have been good and useful. What sort of manipulation would have to occur amongst a group of young kids to have them join this battle? A battle that could so easily mean their very end….like what he had to do right now.

It took him ten minutes to pull it together and head forth to the final area, but what he had discovered had shocked him completely. Sephiroth was in there leaning against the wall casually taking in his appearance. "Four hours, twelve minutes, and thirty-seven seconds. That's how long it took you to finish this mission. The average is close to that. Still feeling like you're above all others?"

Genesis couldn't believe what he was saying. He just spent that entire time killing human beings and animals and Sephiroth just thought he should plow through without feeling a single bit of remorse? "Have you no mercy?" Genesis felt like breaking down right then and there, but he kept himself rigid. He shouldn't allow Sephiroth to see his weakness. "Sorry I'm not a monster, I have some emotional attachment to life and taking it away."

Sephiroth turned his bright green eyes upon the bloodied and tired redhead. He used to know what that feeling was like. Back when he just started he had that guilt all of the time. But what did he feel now? Nothing. "If you don't like it then you're allowed to quit."

"If I quit now, what would that even mean to the people I just killed? That I was a temporary assassin, and now I can go back to being a farmer without getting in trouble? I couldn't do that. That'd only make things worse. As if I joined just to kill once and to get it out of my way." Genesis came forth and saw the sixth item sitting perfectly on the table. But he couldn't grab for it since Sephiroth moved in front of him. "The mission is over."

Sephiroth shook his head, "Not quite yet." He pulled his blade into view, the Masamune. Genesis stiffened at the sight of it but did not back down. What was Sephiroth doing? "To finish the mission…you have to get through me."

"You can't be serious," Genesis retorted but quickly pulled up his own blade in defense as Sephiroth's sword came whipping down onto him. The force was extremely powerful, he almost buckled his knees with that one hit. "Fine, let's dance." Their blades hit a few more times, but Genesis was sent staggering backwards every time they hit. Sephiroth definitely had a lot more muscle then what he had expected!

_Damn, what is he doing? He knows I can't beat him! Then again, what am I doing? I know I'm no match, so why am I fighting?_ Genesis ducked as the Masamune swiped through the air. _Okay, I'm fighting more in defense because he came at me first. If I get hurt, he's paying the hospital bill._ Genesis spotted the blade coming back around and he fell on his back, feeling the air rush by from the swoop of the blade. _How do you defend against a sword like this? Wait. Angeal and I went over this before. Bigger, longer blades are made to keep the enemy away. So…I need to get closer._ Genesis rolled out of the way as Sephiroth speared the ground. This was his chance! He dove and tackled Sephiroth, but his grip didn't loosen from his blade. Sephiroth easily rolled them so Genesis was on his back and his blade now aimed to slice into the boy's neck. "Any last words?"

Genesis looked toward his blade. Too far away to reach. His arms were burning, the muscles straining to keep the long blade away from his neck. He was going to give in and beg like a dog…

Then…it came to him. This would probably get him fired and denounced from Shinra Headquarters, but his pride would not let him lose like this. "Have you ever heard of the rhyme 'liar liar, pants on fire?'" He noticed Sephiroth's expression change from sadistically pleased to put-off and confused. "Then let me help you put it into context." His right hand shot down and grabbed Sephiroth inappropriately. The expression on Sephiroth's face was priceless, but what came next really got a reaction out of him. Genesis had blasted Sephiroth with fire at close-range…in a sensitive area, no less. The 1st class SOLDIER had leapt to his feet quickly and shouted as he patted his pants down to stop the flames from scalding his region. Meanwhile, Genesis scrambled to his feet and got his sword, snatched up the last item, and bolted the hell out of there. He didn't want to stand around waiting for Sephiroth to recover. When he reached the exit he wasn't paying attention to what he was doing and slammed right into a group of 2nd class men.

"Whoa, watch it. Sephiroth beat your ass already? Or did you run? You are out of breath…"

"Who wouldn't run if they had to face Sephiroth? Though I'm surprised he didn't pursue you."

"Hey look, he got the sixth item. No one's ever gotten the sixth item that's been put through this."

Genesis caught his breath and explained what happened. "We were fighting and he overpowered me. He was going to slice my fucking head off! So I just…set his pants on fire and got out of there."

It took the group awhile to understand what he meant, but once it sunk in they all started to laugh.

"You seriously did that? Oh man, no wonder he's not coming out he's probably got a gaping hole in his pants!"

"How'd you manage that, newbie?"

Genesis stared over at the exit wearily, "Um. He was on top of me…I just…" Genesis didn't know how to explain it. "Put my hand down and let the magic do its work."

The group all winced, "You mean, frontal attack?" Genesis nodded and they all groaned and snorted at the agony that he had caused. "That would explain why he's not out yet, probably neutered the poor guy."

"Yeah, talk about roasting nuts on an open fire."

"I'm sure Sephiroth will get over the pain," one figured, "But it'll probably include pounding the snot out of this kid." Genesis felt his heart sink. That wasn't good.

"Maybe I should just leave," Genesis remarked knowing that each minute he stood there the closer he was to dying.

"We'd love to help, but Sephiroth has to come home with us as well."

"All on the same helicopter?" Genesis asked weakly. The group nodded. "I wish I was briefed about that before I had to fight him…" Now he was fucked.

"Hey, here he comes!" The group turned their attention to Sephiroth. He walked rather fine, and in fact his face didn't show any pain or anger. As soon as he arrived at the group, though, they heckled him. "Nice pants, is that a new style?" Genesis glanced at Sephiroth's crotch and noticed the leather was deformed. The black coloring had fallen off here and there, and a few holes were showing.

Sephiroth glared at them, cold eyes going straight to Genesis. "Give me a good reason why I shouldn't break your neck right now."

"I'll set your pants back on fire?" Genesis remarked and the group roared with laughter. He noticed Sephiroth advance and he backed up in response. "Oh come on, it couldn't have been that bad! You were kicking my ass, I panicked!"

"Why don't you take the lining of your pants and melt it to your skin and then we'll discuss how bad it is." The others tried to imagine that pain but could only snicker softly at Sephiroth's predicament. "In fact, maybe I should do that to you right now?" Sephiroth's hand turned a blazing red. "My magic is far more powerful than yours, I think you can imagine the heat being much worse."

Genesis could already feel the searing hot flames from where he stood. "Whoa, calm down! I'll make it up to you!" He had to think quickly. What did Sephiroth like? "I'll…uh…pay for your meals whenever you go out to eat?"

Sephiroth's magic died down and he studied Genesis's features. He looked like he could afford it…maybe. "For how long?"

"Um…a…month?"

"Make it a year and I'll pretend this never happened."

"A year? Are you fucking crazy?"

Sephiroth glared, "You tried to cauterize my dick, I think a year is me being nice."

Genesis nervously laughed, "Yeah. Okay, a year." Good thing he was fucking rich…

The others kept up their snickering while piling into the helicopter to head home. "Seems we all did a great job today, boys. No losses, vanquished all the enemies, and got our treasures!" One man had commented.

Another leaned in to whisper to most of the group, "And someone finally beat Sephiroth."

Sephiroth overheard and he snapped at them, "He didn't beat me, he set me on fire and ran. Fleeing battle doesn't make you a winner."

"It just means I'm smart for not sticking around," Genesis replied. He saw the devilish look that Sephiroth gave him. "What? It's not like I can fix it. Do you want me to make some ice and place it down your pants?"

Sephiroth listened to the laughter of everyone else, but had to go about this in a calm manner. To get back at someone was to act rationally. "No surprise that you'd want to 'help,' especially after your suave moves from before." The group looked at them wondering what had happened now.

"What? I didn't do anything," Genesis defended himself.

"What happened?" someone asked, the group readily nodded their heads in curiosity.

"You grabbed me first before you bothered with the fire idea," Sephiroth remarked.

The whole helicopter 'oohed' at that. "Fondling the 1st class, eh?" someone interjected and the group chuckled.

"Hey, I had to make sure there was something to actually burn. What with your long sword, I had a feeling you were compensating for something." Oh man, Genesis was surprised he even said that!

"And what did you discover?" Sephiroth asked somewhat tediously.

"Well…I was pleased to find that there was at least something to damage on you. If only you could have seen your expressions. I didn't think your eyes could open that wide, truthfully."

"You must feel so accomplished of yourself," Sephiroth sniped back. "Are you going to tell your mother you grab men to win your battles? I'm sure she'd be pleased."

Genesis felt the urge to keep fighting. For being 3rd class amongst all of the upper class figures, he believed he was an equal. He had felled Sephiroth! He wasn't going to take crap from anyone. "She'd forgive me, my mother wouldn't abandon me over something that small, unlike some mothers."

Sephiroth felt irked by that. Why would he stoop that low? The others looked a bit lost, trying to pick up on what Genesis meant. He had to fight back as well. "Tell me, Genesis, do you take after your mother more than your father?"

"Perhaps? It all depends on the setting…"

"How's about following orders?" As Sephiroth said it, Genesis stared at him wondering what he was planning. "Your mother listened to your father, right? Of course. And you listened to them both obediently, correct? No siblings though, I assume. But if you had an older brother, you'd listen to them wouldn't you? Yes, you would. Then I think, as an extra tack on to the deal, that as a lower rank…you will do anything I command you to do. If I say sit, you sit, if I say speak, you'll speak, if I tell you to humiliate yourself in public, you'll humiliate yourself in public."

Genesis scoffed, "Why would I do such a thing?"

Sephiroth snatched Genesis by the scruff of his neck so swiftly hardly anyone saw it coming. Crackling noise and bright sparks came flying from Sephiroth's hand as it was jammed before Genesis's face. "For one thing, you owe me. Another thing, I could kill everyone in this helicopter with one blast. Now, will anyone at Headquarters care about your deaths? No, they won't, because as long as I'm fine then nothing will matter. I think you should oblige, at least to save your mother from having to receive a letter that you died pitifully in battle."

Genesis was shocked at those words. "You'd…lie?" He remarked, sparks still glistening at him.

"Only if you keep acting like a fool. This is a hierarchy. Learn your spot or die."

Genesis didn't argue, and was soon released from Sephiroth's grasp. Damn, he was uptight. The ride back was mostly small chatter for the other operatives, leaving the lowest and highest ranked members out of the talking loop since both were too bitter to speak to anyone. Genesis was glad to get off, thinking he'd escape the monster and head to his room to hide. But there was a twinge of guilt and sympathy escaping him. But why? His eyes went over to Sephiroth who walked alone and away from the crowds. His stony look seemed almost…sad. _Why must I act before I think? Why do I always feel regret for the pain I cause others? I can't just let him go like that…Oh man, my life can't get any worse._ Genesis moved off as well, doing his best not to act like he was following Sephiroth. Once out of sight he bolted to find the man and noticed he hadn't gone far. "Sephiroth, where are you going? Can I help?"

Sephiroth glared at Genesis. What a pest. "I'm going to get my pants removed, that doesn't require any help."

"Oh…" Genesis didn't know how to be helpful and hint that he was sorry. "Um…well are you certain? I mean, I do feel guilty—"

Sephiroth interrupted him. "As much as you'd like to see me naked, I'll have to pass on the offer."

"But—"

"Genesis," he snapped at him. "You melted my pants to my skin. It's going to painful and annoying to rip my flesh off and get this fixed. Please go do something useful, I will beckon for you when I find it necessary." With that he left. Genesis couldn't call him back or beg for forgiveness.

"I always manage to fuck up, huh?" Genesis remarked to himself as the silver hair disappeared from his sight.

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

"Next time you'll be more careful, now won't you?" Hojo remarked to Sephiroth as he stood off to the side. He wasn't doing anything helpful aside from bashing at Sephiroth's current situation. He found it hilarious that Sephiroth was bested by some underdog, and he didn't mind showing it to the 1st class SOLDIER. Hojo knew no harm could come to him since he was the top scientist in Shinra's departments. Besides, Sephiroth and he clashed quite a lot. He loved science and testing things and Sephiroth was into brute force and pushing away the sciences. They both were intelligent and both enjoyed killing things, that was one bond they had, but other then that neither found it worthy to attract the other's attention.

"The best way for it to heal is to keep the bandages clean. Here's some cream for after showering. If it's painful to shower then try to pat down the area to get it clean. Also, if you find discomfort it's best that you just sit still. Chaffing might occur…so if you rest you should try doing it without pants on. But whatever makes you comfortable, really." The nurse, which was a male for Sephiroth's benefit, handed over the cream and moved so that Sephiroth could get his pants back on. Luckily the pants had only burnt the inner parts of his thighs and not his actual sensitive areas. If it had caused damage to _that_ area he would have gone and killed Genesis. "Perhaps you should tell Director Lazard?" The nurse noticed the quick glare from Sephiroth. "Er…to help heal, you shouldn't go on any extensive missions."

Sephiroth wanted to tell the nurse to mind his own business, but Hojo spoke up instead. "Oh, wouldn't that be nice? A nice little vacation to heal all the while keeping your eye out for that rotten boy that did this to you. Imagine all the extra side missions you could assign him to! He'd think he'd be getting a break until he notices that you're hanging around prepared to torture him."

That did sound really pleasing right now. "I'll talk to Lazard," Sephiroth remarked so both of them would be quiet. "Thank you for the help." Sephiroth left the area before Hojo could say anything else. His thighs were sore already. Perhaps, instead of getting revenge, he should lay down for the rest of the night? That did sound tempting… Once he arrived in Lazard's office he noticed the blonde smile at him until he noticed the damaged pants.

"Sephiroth, your pants are—"

"That's why I'm here."

"Um…pardon?" Wasn't like Lazard knew how to mend them.

Sephiroth sighed. How many times would he have to explain what happened? "To make a long story short, Genesis and I were fighting and he shot fire at me. You can guess where."

Lazard successfully kept a straight face as he gave the pants another glance. When his eyes returned back to Sephiroth's face he seemed very serious. "Are you all right?"

"Yes, relatively fine. It melted my pants to my thighs, and that was the only damage."

Lazard nodded slowly, more in thinking the man was lucky than anything else. "So, I assume you got that fixed already?"

"Yes."

"And you were advised to come to me…because you should let it heal."

"Correct."

Lazard gravely nodded as he clicked a few things on his computer, typing quickly to put in his information. "All right. This isn't exactly helpful in our situation since you are the only 1st class SOLDIER, but keeping you here and out of battle for awhile will keep our enemies on their toes. Now, the next thing I must ask is what you did to Genesis. I hope you didn't react irrationally."

Sephiroth wasn't sure. He thought his actions were pretty rational. "I didn't do anything aside from talk to him."

Lazard raised an eyebrow. "Oh? And if I called him in here would he say the same thing?"

"I think he would say yes whether he wanted to or not considering he's on my bad side."

"Of course," Lazard sighed. "I won't bring it up with anyone. Go get some rest or whatever you need to do. You have this week off for now." He watched Sephiroth turn to leave when he called out, "And be nice to Genesis! If he doesn't mind setting your pants on fire, I think he'll do well against our enemies once he gets some more training in."

Sephiroth didn't respond. He left and went to his room where he stripped all of his clothes and put on some boxers instead. A small sigh of relief escaped him. That was definitely more comfortable than before. He scooped up the pants and threw them in the garbage and moved to throw his underwear in the wash, but getting another look at them, he saw how charred they were. He threw them out as well and then got into bed, too sore to go hang up his coat and armor, let alone bother with putting his boots in a better spot. Another sigh escaped him as the warmth of his bed pulled him into a drowsy state. Well…he did have the week off. Why not get some shut eye?

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

"You…what?" Angeal asked rather confused at Genesis's statement. They were sitting at lunch eating at their usual spot when Genesis had told him about his battle with Sephiroth. It seemed a bit unreal, but leave it to Genesis to do something stupid to someone of importance.

"I….set his crotch on fire." Genesis repeated himself.

"Okay." Angeal grabbed his drink and took a long swig from it, thinking out the entire situation. He could only imagine what it looked like. And Sephiroth's reaction, too. Oh boy. He set the drink down and brought his eyes back onto his friend. "So…I guess you really didn't want him as a friend, huh?"

"I didn't mean to—I was just—Angeal you've got to help me fix this." Genesis desperately needed to find a way to make it up to Sephiroth or else his life here at Headquarters was going to be hell. "It was all an accident, really."

"You even told him you were going to set his pants on fire, how was that accidental?"

"Well my brain made me act before I could think about the consequences, I call that accidental."

"I call that stupid, but okay. Let's say 'accidental' so we won't hurt your feelings. Doesn't really make a difference to Sephiroth's nuts."

"He was _fine_ after the battle. I just have to make it up to him through a few things, but I mean…buying the guy food for every time he goes out isn't exactly fixing the problem. I'm just covering it up with gil."

"You did say he wanted you to obey his orders."

"Yeah, and he's probably going to tell me to set my own pants on fire, like that's going to help. Isn't there something more…personal or a way to get to him so that he won't hate my guts forever?"

Angeal finished his sandwich and thought over what he could do. There had to be more to the story. "You said you all left on the helicopter, right? And that's why he told you to obey his orders and what not. What made him say that?"

Genesis shrugged. He didn't want to bring up his comment he made.

Angeal saw right through him though. "You insulted him somehow. If you tell me what went on then I can help you, but I need info, boy."

"He commented about my mother…and how he wondered if she'd be proud of me for grabbing boys to win battles…and I just…snapped a little bit."

"Aaand?"

"And I told him my mother would never abandon me for what I do…unlike some mothers…"

Angeal sighed and divided up the pear on his plate. There was a long moment of silence as Angeal ate his fruit, neither speaking during the whole time. Finally, when Angeal finished, he spoke up. "Sephiroth did say he didn't like talking about his personal life. The fact that you'd comment about that in front of others probably upset him the most. Now I understand why he pinned on the obedience thing. Luckily no one questioned your words, and Sephiroth at least covered it up rather well I can imagine."

"Yeah…"

"He specifically said he didn't talk about his personal life, and when he did he assumed the two of us would keep that same promise. That we wouldn't talk about his life either, except for around him. When you go and do dumb things like you did, he finds it as a lack of understanding his orders, or at least his wishes. The best you can do is apologize and do as he asks."

"That's it?" Genesis panicked. "He'd just tell me to cram it and leave him alone. I can't do that."

Angeal set his utensils on his plate and put his napkin on the tray. "Give him some room to breathe, all right? I know you're desperate, but continuously acting out on your gut feeling isn't working out for you. Hence why you roasted his privates." Angeal stood up with his tray in hand. "I need to get going, I'll see you later tonight. Don't get into anymore trouble."

Genesis watched his friend leave and he miserably finished his drink and dumped his own tray, appetite lost from the unsettling news. _Can I really just stand off to the side and wait for Sephiroth to beckon for me? Angeal thinks I need to give him room, but what if Sephiroth takes that as a good reason to avoid me forever? I can't let that happen. I should at least talk to him, ask if I can help him or something. Then again, I already did that…What can I do differently this time?_ Genesis left the cafeteria and walked by the kitchen door that read 'employees only' on it. The door had opened and he glanced in seeing someone rolling out dough. _Maybe I could make him something? I wonder what kind of desert he likes…_ Absent-mindedly Genesis walked up to a few SOLDIER operatives and blurted out a question. "Do you know if Sephiroth likes pie or cake more?"

The entire group stared at him wondering what that was all about. Someone finally spoke up. "I think he likes them both equally." The others nodded in agreement.

"Oh. Do you know if he has a favorite?"

There was some mumbling before another person spoke up. "You know, you should ask one of his fangirls, they'd probably tell you something if you give them something in return."

"Yeah, those girls know everything about him."

Genesis nodded, "Okay…do you know where I can find one?"

More muttering went about before one said, "Yeah, I hear one hangs around in the Slums. If you're lucky, you could probably find her there."

"Okay, thanks." Genesis walked off and then questioned why Sephiroth had fangirls and why he didn't know about this. He decided not to think too much about it and made his way outside. The world was buzzing once again as he briskly walked to get to the Slums. Hopefully that one chick was there, he didn't want to stay in the Slums for long. He had heard that a lot of pickpockets were around there and dirty children with funky teeth would beg for food. Then again, this was just what he heard, they could have been terribly wrong. What kind of woman that worships Sephiroth would be found in such a dump? Whatever, he just needed to get in and get out.

When Genesis got into the Slums he realized he hadn't asked for a specific location of where she might be, let alone what any of them looked like. Who could he even ask? His eyes scanned the area of foreboding people and decided he'd walk around and search for anyone who stuck out. For a half hour he watched the place as he strolled around looking for someone with class, but it seemed like he couldn't find anyone. He had stopped in a child's play park prepared to give up when he noticed a woman in a sharp business suit and her hair done up neatly standing around. Genesis approached the womanly quickly, taking in her appearance. _Damn, Sephiroth's got some hot fangirls. Look at this chick! How could Sephiroth NOT be interested??_ "Are you one of Sephiroth's fangirls?" What a question to ask.

The woman glanced him over noticing he was in SOLDIER. "Fangirl? I'm more than that. I'm part of the Silver Elite."

"The…what?"

"Silver Elite, what are you, new around here? Our organization is based on Sephiroth, the one and only 1st class SOLDIER. We have exclusive and top secret information about him."

"Like…what?"

"Pictures." She smiled. "Very…showy pictures."

Oh god. That sounded creepy. "Oh. What about…his favorite foods?"

"We have information on that as well."

"Awesome, could you tell me what he likes for pie or cake?"

The woman shook her head, "I would, but you have to be a part of the club, and to get in you have to answer a few questions. We only want really devoted members to be a part of our club."

_I have to join Sephiroth's retarded fan club…to figure out what he likes to eat? God this is starting to get far more complicated than I wanted it to be._ Genesis crossed his arms over his chest. If they wanted to play this way then fine, he'd go through it. "All right…I'd like to join."

"All right…" the girl pulled out a pack of cards and shuffled them neatly before picking one out. She stared at the question before smiling, "Here's an easy one. What color are Sephiroth's eyes?"

"Green," Genesis remarked. He at least remembered that about him.

She pulled out another card and asked, "What year was Sephiroth born?"

"Oh this is easy, he's the same age I am," Genesis remarked and told her the year. _Jeez, and I thought I'd have difficulty getting in!_

She picked out another card, "What was Sephiroth's mother's name?"

_What the fuck! Sephiroth never told me what his mom's name was. Does he even know? Shit, why do they know this and I don't?_ Genesis let out a long 'uhh' as he tried to think of a name. The look on her face seemed pleased that she had weeded him out of the club. "Can I phone a friend?"

"No. I'm sorry, if you don't know the answer then you'll have to leave."

"What? Oh come on, I knew the others."

"Which isn't good enough for our group," she remarked.

"Yeah? Well…if you let me be a part of the group I could…get better information."

"I doubt it."

"I talk to him practically every day, how could you know him better than me? You might know facts but you don't know his personality."

The woman raised an eyebrow, "Oh really?" She smirked, "Then tell me something I don't know."

_Damn, what do I know that she doesn't?_ "He…is camera shy, because he thinks it's weird that people obsess over him."

"Tell me something worth hearing, darling."

Genesis wished he could phone Angeal and ask what they knew about Sephiroth. Then he realized something. "I have his phone number."

She perked up slightly, "Oh? So if you called him right now he'd pick up and start speaking?"

Genesis pulled out his phone and clicked Sephiroth's name, turning on the speaker phone. He hoped this would work. "Just watch."

All the way in Sephiroth's room the slumbering figure was in a beautiful dream when it was completely shattered by the ring of his phone. Sephiroth jolted up and looked at his phone, picking it up and answering quickly. "Yes?"

"Hey, Sephiroth," Genesis replied and noticed the girl get closer to listen.

Sephiroth frowned at the voice. Sounded familiar. "Genesis?"

"Yes."

Oh fucking God. Sephiroth wanted to hang up and tell him to go away, but held his temper. "What do you want?"

"I wanted to know how you were feeling."

"You decided to call me and ask me that…right now?"

"You're not busy, are you?"

"I was sleeping."

Genesis shrugged as if Sephiroth could see him, "So? You sleep all the time."

"I do not. Did you have anything important to ask?"

"Yeah, of course. What's your mom's name?"

Sephiroth felt put-off. What a moronic question! "I don't know."

"How do you not know?" Genesis snapped at him.

"Because it's unimportant. And you don't need to know that either. Where are you?"

"Outside."

"Where?"

"Why?"

Sephiroth glared, "Who are you talking to?"

"You?"

"Don't be a moron."

Genesis looked at her and then back at the phone, "I'm really not talking to anyone."

"Next time you call it better be an emergency."

"This was an emergency."

"An emergency in MY standards, not yours. Call me again and I'll break your ankles."

"That's…kinky," Genesis remarked and watched the woman's eyes flash at the words.

There was a sigh from the phone before the call ended from Sephiroth's end. Genesis shrugged and looked at the girl, "See? Personality."

"Seems he doesn't like you all that much."

"He's warming up to me, that's all," Genesis remarked. "Do you actually know his mother's name or was that just a hoax question?"

She neatly placed her hands together, "We have insiders, we know. But…considering you have connections with him directly…we could always use some help getting more pictures and information about him. If I make you a member will you help us?"

Genesis nodded, "Yeah, why not? As long as I figure out this dessert thing."

The woman pulled out her phone and added him in to the group, sending him a greeting in joining their group. "All of our juicy information will be sent to now."

"Who came up with this stuff anyway? I mean, starting the whole fan club thing?"

The woman smiled as she put her phone away. "Our leader is referred to by H. No one knows her name, but does it matter? As long as those of us who are worthy enough stay in the club and get the information we want, we'll ignore the fact that our leader has no identity."

Genesis thought it over. H. Did he know anyone that had a name that started with an H? "Hmm. Weird. So…about that dessert—"

"Lemon meringue pie. Red velvet cake. And he likes green mint ice cream cake."

"All right," Genesis replied. He couldn't wait to see the look on Sephiroth's face when he made those things for him.

"Would you like me to forward you some pictures or fun facts?"

"Yeah, that'd be awesome." _Why would that be awesome? Then again…maybe if I told Angeal or Sephiroth I was part of the club they'd find it amusing?_ "Thanks a lot for everything."

She shrugged, "Thank you for letting me hear him in his 'true' form. And I do have a question…why did you need to know about the dessert?"

"I'm going to make it for him. We got in a…weird fight this morning, I just thought the best way to win him over would be to give him food."

Her lip curled up in quite the smile, her eyes showed that she was plotting something. "Oh? Are you hand delivering it to him?"

"That's what I'm planning…"

"And you know him relatively well, right?"

"Yeah, kind of."

"Do you think you could get any…pictures?"

"Of him with dessert?"

"It's nice to see pictures of him in a more…natural state."

Genesis slowly nodded. Yeah, this club was filled with weirdos. "Sure, I'll try my best." When they parted ways Genesis went to go buy ingredients for the pie. After that he went to the communal kitchen that was on the SOLDIER floor and went to work. He was really glad he got his parents' good cooking skills.

OoOoOoOoOoO

Sephiroth had been asleep for another two hours, or at least close to that, when he heard his door open. He knew he should have locked it. Bad enough he kept his phone on. He lifted the pillow from his face and saw Genesis standing there. Of course. "Don't you know when to quit?"

Genesis stared at Sephiroth and a calm smile came to his face. "Hey, I made you pie."

Sephiroth didn't understand. He was going to yell at Genesis and the man…made him pie? Did he miss something? He had been sleeping for quite awhile… What made him do this? "You…made me pie?" He had repeated it, unsure of what Genesis meant by any of that.

"Yeah," Genesis replied. He brought the dessert over to him. "I told you I felt guilty about what I did, and you buzzed me off so yeah…I know how to cook so I thought I'd make you something instead."

Sephiroth took the pie slowly, eyes staring at the dessert hungrily. "Lemon meringue?"

"Yup!"

That was his favorite kind of pie. Wait. How did Genesis know? Or did he? "I…thought you were joking when you said that."

"Well…I am pretty confusing, I'll admit that."

Sephiroth stared at the masterpiece before pointing to the kitchen, "Fork." Genesis went and got him one, handing it over. He wasn't surprised that Sephiroth started to it already.

"So…uh…sorry about the phone call. I was going to ask about what you liked, but I thought I'd sound really stupid, so my call was pretty pointless." Yeah, just lie to him.

Sephiroth kept eating, enjoying every bite. It was really good… "Why'd you ask about my mother?"

"Uh…" Genesis wasn't sure if he wanted to tell him yet about the fan club. Maybe he could tell a half-truth? "I bumped into some girl that said she was a part of your fan club, and she asked if I wanted to join. Then she said all these weird questions, and that was one of them."

Sephiroth stared at the pie and frowned, "A…fan club…about me?"

"Yeah. I thought it'd be funny if I could get in, but I didn't know any of the answers."

"What were some of the questions?"

"Um. Your mom's name. Your…" _Shit, make stuff up!!!_ "Last name. What your chest span was. Um…weird things like that."

"They…know that stuff?" Sephiroth questioned him.

"Apparently. They knew your favorite dessert."

"They do?" Sephiroth questioned. No wonder Genesis got it right. "Did…they say anything else about the club? Like what they do?"

"They have exclusive photos of you, supposedly. At least that's what the woman said to me."

Sephiroth had stopped eating altogether, now focused on the oddball group that was obsessed with him. In fact, he should be angry at Genesis for a number of things, but he was too shocked in hearing this news to care about what Genesis had done to him. "Did she show you any of them?"

_Should I tell Sephiroth that I haven't seen any, or should I tell him something different? He seems concerned, or at least interested. Perhaps I could make this turn in for my benefit?_ "She said that she'd send me 'a couple' because I was in SOLDIER and she pitied the fact that I was too stupid for my own good in 'Sephiroth knowledge.' Let me look and see if she sent anything." Genesis poked through his settings and went to his camera to snap a quick picture of Sephiroth. It had worked and he quickly went to his mail to check what had been sent. He went through and found one with attachments and he opened it up. "They're loading," he remarked to Sephiroth so he wouldn't get suspicious. The first photo that popped up Genesis let out a holler.

"What? What did she send you?" Sephiroth set the pie to the side and moved to see what was on Genesis's phone. The first shot was him shirtless in water. It looked like he wasn't wearing anything, but he recognized the place. "Oh…Costa del Sol."

"You look like you're posing for a porno or something!"

"I was moving my hair out of the way, that isn't inappropriate."

Genesis rolled his eyes and went to the next photo, "How's about that?" It showed someone grabbing Sephiroth's ass.

Sephiroth pointed at the person, "Just look, it's a cop. When you travel you get pat-downs."

"Sure," Genesis remarked. He went to the next one and both gapped. Sephiroth was in the shower. It showed an interesting angle, and it seemed the water was mostly running down Sephiroth's front. And he looked satisfied. Genesis closed his phone, "Okay, we're done. I don't want to know."

"I wasn't doing anything, it was a shower. Delete those, I don't want you getting any ideas," Sephiroth remarked.

"Any ideas?" Genesis turned his eyes to the 1st class SOLDIER. "Like what? My brain is already fried seeing you like that."

"How do I know what you're really like?" Sephiroth glared at him, "You already grabbed me once today, I don't know what you'll do with pictures like those."

Genesis put the phone away and pointed at Sephiroth's region, "Speaking of your crotch, how is it?" He made it sound like a pet dog. Then again, it practically would be to any guy.

Sephiroth moved the blanket and brandished the bandages on his thighs. "It hurts to wear pants, how's that sound?"

Genesis stared at Sephiroth's thighs for a long time. He wondered how many girls got a nice shot of this? Those fangirls seemed pretty well endowed, they probably got pictures of everything on him. "Want me to massage you?"

As nice as it sounded to get a massage for his sore thighs, he didn't want Genesis touching him after witnessing those pictures. Then again, was Genesis being serious or not? "Depends on what you're massaging."

"Your thighs? Were you hoping for me to touch your dick?"

"You've already done that, it wasn't as appealing."

"Sorry, my hands get warm when I get excited," Genesis quipped back.

"And why should I allow you to touch my thighs then? They're already suffering enough as it is." Sephiroth picked up the pie and began to eat again, enjoying the taste of it melt in his mouth. What he hadn't expected was for Genesis to ignore everything he had said and to start massaging him. His eyes whipped onto Genesis angrily, but found that the boy had no intentions beyond trying to help. The look on his face told all. "Sometimes I wonder why you bother with me."

Genesis looked up at him, big smirk coming to his face. "Because you're a decent person, and I wouldn't mind being your friend."

"Do you always set your friends' pants on fire before you get to know them?"

"Just the really cool ones," Genesis joked. Sephiroth moved to eat another bite of his pie but a small bit had fallen onto his thigh. "Nice. Want me to lick that up for you?"

"No." Sephiroth stared at the spot and then at Genesis, "Are you sure you're not—"

"I was joking."

"So…if I dared you to lick it up, you wouldn't?"

"Well if you dared me I would."

"But you wouldn't on your own free will."

"No. I'm not scared to do weird things for dares, but I have morals when it comes to everything else."

Sephiroth wondered if Genesis was bluffing, but he really didn't want to sacrifice himself for this. Then again, he wondered if Genesis would squirm? "I dare you, then."

_The Legendary Hero is daring me to lick pie off of his thigh. Why am I feeling like I'm more lucky than I should be? I'm not even into guys! But it's Sephiroth. He's like a God amongst the living, any girl would be dying to do this job._ "Okay, if you're not going to freak out I will."

Before Sephiroth could say anything Genesis had already licked it off. Holy fuck that was not what he had planned at all. He got off the bed and moved away from Genesis, "What the _hell_ is wrong with you? How are you not interested in men if you do those things? I didn't mean for you to actually do it! My God…"

"You shouldn't joke about those things. You know, I wonder how far you'd ever go on anyone. Even if it is a dare."

Sephiroth wiped his thigh off with a towel in disgust, "I wouldn't play at all."

"No kissing?"

"No."

"Biting?"

"No."

"Touching?"

"No!"

"Jeez, you're really something." Genesis stood up, "You need to be desensitized. Hey, I could help you with that!"

Sephiroth glared, "No thank you, you've touched me far more than I find comfortable. No more massages or you grabbing my privates, okay?"

"That takes the fun out of everything," Genesis remarked, going in for a wimpy punch to Sephiroth's side. But Sephiroth grabbed him in a headlock instead. "What are you doing?"

"You want fun? Here, let me help you with that." He smashed the pie into Genesis's face and let the figure go. There was a mess created on the carpet as the pie tin fell to the floor and Genesis tried to clear away his eyes.

"You dipshit," Genesis snarled at him before getting his own idea. He grabbed up the tin and wiped up the remains. "Two can play this game."

Why did Sephiroth do that? Now Genesis would get him back. It'd get all over his hair…ugh. "Don't you dare. I don't need it in my hair or on my bandages."

"Then hold still and I'll make sure to get it in the correct spot." Genesis threw it for Sephiroth's chest and the man moved to duck thinking Genesis was aiming for his face. Unfortunately, Sephiroth got it right in the face and on his neck.

"Ugh," he growled as Genesis laughed at him. "That wasn't funny." Should have seen that one coming.

"Let me help you," Genesis remarked and went over with a towel. Instead of using the towel though he grabbed Sephiroth and licked his neck. Yeah. Not sure why he was doing this, but he thought Sephiroth's reactions were funny. And it was. The man leapt back at the touch and had pushed Genesis away like he was diseased. A slew of words came flying from Sephiroth's mouth before Genesis was decked in the mouth. The redhead had chomped down on his tongue and blood started to gush from his mouth. "Ow! Fuck!" He shouted, trying to conceal the blood as it started to leak out and go onto Sephiroth's floor.

Sephiroth forgot how hard he could punch, he hadn't meant to hit Genesis like that. He quickly grabbed the towel and put it to Genesis's mouth, watching the blood slowly spread into the cloth. "Did I knock out your teeth?" He'd feel bad if he did…

"Bi' my ton'," Genesis tried to talk but it wasn't coming out so well. The blood kept filling his mouth and he couldn't exactly feel his tongue at the moment.

"Shit," Sephiroth hissed and pulled the towel away to see the damage. Too much blood to determine what was going on. "Let's get you to the nurse's." Sephiroth pulled Genesis out of the room, covered in blood and pie, and they headed to the elevator. Angeal had just gotten out of the elevator when he saw the two.

"Why are you…." Angeal wanted to ask about Sephiroth not wearing clothes, but then noticed Genesis. "What's…"

"No time, we'll explain later," Sephiroth remarked and pulled Genesis into the open elevator. He smashed the correct button and the doors closed. Gently they slid downward until the doors opened again and the two exited, passing by a few others who stared at them like they were crazy. Once they entered into the nurse's room Sephiroth hollered out for help.

Fifteen minutes later, Genesis had stopped the blood flow and was relatively fine. His tongue was a bit numb and pained, but they gave him some medicine to relieve it. "I hope you two learned something from this," the woman asked. She was rather large and looked very cranky.

"Nev-ur puh-lay wih Sssephiroh?" Genesis couldn't even talk correctly, the drug's made it too hard.

She only glared and stared at their pie-covered bodies. "Now get going and get yourselves cleaned up."

Sephiroth helped Genesis get back to their floor, both of them still fetching really weird looks. He dropped Genesis off to Angeal and explained the situation, though skipped over everything and basically said 'I threw pie at him, he threw pie at me, and it got out of hand.' Then Sephiroth went back to his room and got cleaned up. He had to clean the blood from his carpet and get out the pie as well. When he was finished his thighs burned terribly so he decided to lie down and rest for the entire day, or what was left of it. At least he'd get some rest with Genesis now wounded…

Or so he hoped.

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

_Oh fuck. Oooooh fuck. I can't believe I'm such a moron. Why didn't I just listen to Angeal? Why couldn't I have stayed away and let him recuperate? Oooooh fuck._

Genesis had awoken finally from the morning's bright glare that sliced through the open part of the curtains and landed on his tired eyes. Last night he had _licked_ Sephiroth. What was he thinking? He had caused his own demise, and though his tongue felt quite swollen and painful, he assumed he deserved it. An eye for an eye, a tongue for a licking…

_The worst part about this is how I'll face him. Last night I was joking. This morning, I'm not so sure I can say it was that great of a joke. I mean, of course I didn't mean anything by it, but he doesn't know that! And neither does Angeal! How can I even prove myself innocent? And amongst the entire problem is the fact that I didn't even listen to Angeal's advice. He probably thinks I'm a moron and deserved what happened to me. Well, I already agree with that, but it's not like I'm going to let him know that._ Genesis rose up from his bed and went over to the mirror to check out the damage. He opened his mouth and stuck his tongue out, surprised to see that it did have some weird discoloration, but it wasn't as bad as it felt. His eyes searched the room and he grabbed up a safety pin. _I wondered if the hole healed up already or not?_ He started to poke at the tender spot, and was amazed to find that the pin went through relatively nicely. He threw the pin down and gave himself a somber look. _Perhaps I should practice a speech or something? Should I go apologize to Sephiroth? No, if I go apologize then he'll only be annoyed with me and find it easier to avoid me. If I don't say anything to him and wait for him to apologize for ripping a hole in my tongue, then maybe I could snare him into a friendly conversation? It's not like he hates me for what happened, right?_

"I hope you're not contemplating getting a tongue ring," Angeal's husky voice called out from his bed, sleep's last grasp being cleared from his throat. "What do you have to say for yourself?"

Genesis kept his eyes at himself in the mirror. His hair was disgusting because the pie had clung to it in the night. He felt like he smelt weird, but he imagined that had to do with the pie as well and the lingering taste of iron in his mouth. It was like he woke up from a coma and discovered someone had been playing jokes on him. "I'm not sure. That you're right and I'm wrong? But you already knew that," Genesis remarked. His speech was slightly off, but only people who had known Genesis well enough would be able to tell the difference. "I should not make pie?"

"I think you need to learn that distance is your friend, not your enemy. So, what do you think you're going to do?"

"Um. Distance myself in hopes that he apologizes for capping me in the mouth."

Angeal smirked at that and got himself out of bed, rubbing away at his eyes before giving a boisterous yawn. "Good, good. I think you're learning, slowly…but you're learning." Angeal had no idea that Genesis had violated Sephiroth's personal space. As Genesis looked over at his friend by glancing at him in the mirror he decided he wouldn't tell Angeal. It was best that it was kept low-key, and it wasn't necessary information anyway.

"Yeah," was all he could remark. He prepared for the day and didn't say much. It hurt too much and he really just felt embarrassed and defeated over the entire thing. It didn't help when his phone went off signaling he had received an email. As he picked it up he remembered the picture he had taken of Sephiroth. Well, it couldn't hurt to be spiteful by fueling his fanbase with pictures of him, right? He sent it to The Silver Elite, assuming the responses would be quite interesting. Then he checked his inbox and felt the pits of his stomach drop. Lazard. The Director sent him something. He had realized Angeal's phone didn't go off meaning it was sent just to him. Was it about last night? Did Sephiroth say something to him already? He started to panic as he opened up the message and stared at the contents inside.

"Please come to my office as soon as you're available." That message sent his heart into a spasm, his cheeks flushing at the sight of those words. He was done for. They'd ask him to leave the ranks of Shinra's SOLDIER operatives and to not come back or contact them. They'd take away his phone, his clothes, and his best friend. _I can't believe that this is actually happening. It wasn't supposed to happen like this._

Angeal noticed the silent treatment as well while he slowly prepared with his stretches and silent meditation. "Another mission?"

Genesis shook his head, "I…have to go see the Director."

Angeal realized the fear and he strode over to his friend, resting his hand on his shoulder. "Don't sweat it, all right? Sephiroth wouldn't have said anything about last night, he would be penalized for hitting you anyway. You might have bothered him and they might ask you to step out of his personal space, but you can't be in trouble for anything beyond that."

"Y-Yeah," Genesis choked on the word. "Right. I mean, you're right. Thanks, Angeal, I guess I just panicked for no reason." But he knew that Sephiroth probably turned him in for sexual harassment or something as lucrative as that. And they'd believe him, too, because it was Sephiroth! The Legendary Hero would never be questioned against some lowly newbie that was in the 3rd rank!

He made his desolate departure to Lazard's office after brushing his hair in a way to help shadow part of his face. He didn't want Lazard to read the fear in his face. The other buzzing of life around him was completely tuned out. He couldn't concentrate on anything but the reciting words of "you're fucked" going on in his mind.

Genesis grabbed onto the door handle and felt like it weighed a thousand pounds as his limbs turned to jelly. He somehow got it open and made his way feebly into the clean and organized office. If Lazard couldn't see the fear in his face, he probably saw the way his body shook like a leaf in the wild winds of winter. Yet, Lazard casually turned from his files on the computer and gave Genesis his usual heart-warming grin. "Good morning, Genesis, I'm glad you responded so quickly. How was your first mission? I heard you did about the same time as all the others. That's good."

Genesis tried to think of anything to say but had frozen up, his throat clamped tight. He let out a meager noise, and he shrugged in hopes of getting some type of message across. _Sorry I can't say much else, I'm scared as fuck right now._

Lazard took in the body language and nodded, "It does leave quite the impression, doesn't it? I hope that you got some sleep even for what you had to do."

Genesis nodded his head grimly, still not uttering a word even though he kept swallowing as if there was a clog that just needed to go down.

Lazard curiously laced his fingers together and summed up the boy that stood before him. He wanted to say that Genesis was hiding something, but he didn't want to make the boy anymore nervous than he was expressing. And if he was just deeply disturbed at his job, well…he would talk to someone at some point. "I am curious about what you did yesterday. I heard quite a few interesting stories. Even a visit from Sephiroth," he casually commented.

Genesis's heart went into another spazz attack. Sephiroth had told others? Or maybe the people remarked about it and made a rumor when Sephiroth took him to the nurse's? Oh god. "W-What in particular…are…you interested about?" Yes, specify, make Lazard do all the talking instead.

Lazard gave another brilliant smile while he adjusted his glasses and flicked an imaginary piece of dust from his outfit. "Well, I'm curious about your retrieval of the last piece of treasure and how you went about doing that. I must say, no one's really good at finishing their first mission, especially when we spring Sephiroth on them. Though what I've heard you managed well, and like I said…I had quite the comical situation when Sephiroth entered in my office yesterday to explain why he needed some time off."

_Wait, Sephiroth hadn't visited since yesterday? The mission. Oh…the mission! No wonder he called me in! Sephiroth came in here complaining I set his nards aflame! Haha! Oh…why was I so worried? My Goddess I was about to wet myself._ "O-Oh, I just…didn't want to lose so I did what I thought would be really rational if Sephiroth turned evil and decided to kill me…or you know…I'm up against a really tough enemy. I guess I should have just…gave in."

"Yes, that would have been more preferable, but what is done is done. You have the title of felling the 1st class SOLDIER on mere accident, and in such a…colorful way as well. But you must know that I called you in here not to laugh at Sephiroth's position. We need to be more careful in the future. Sephiroth's important to our main plans in our negotiations, our battles, our bodyguard systems…Wounding him isn't exactly what you should be doing, but in a state of panic I can believe that you didn't mean to harm him that badly."

Genesis nodded before butting in, "Yeah don't worry he's fine. Well not exactly fine, but fine in the areas that count." _Did I seriously just put it like that to Lazard? I need to learn not to speak._

But Lazard gave a smile and a small laugh, "Good to hear. Did the two of you bump into each other later yesterday?"

"Yeah…kind…of. Everything's all good."

"Excellent. Sometimes Sephiroth can really hold a grudge even if he pretends he doesn't. He can't fool me. From now on let's not humiliate Sephiroth with such actions. That was the main reason why I called you in, because someone as new as yourself doesn't need to fall on the bad side of our 1st class SOLDIER."

"Is he always moody?" Genesis asked more in order to calm his nerves from the small slap on the wrist. Thank God he hadn't heard about the pie incident.

"More often than not. Don't worry, if you've apologized he shouldn't do anything bad to you. I'll be sure to have a talk with him just to make sure that he understands as well that our enemy is out there, not in here."

"Y-Yeah. Thanks." Genesis wondered if he could leave now, but a noise behind him caused to freeze up again.

"I hope I'm not interrupting anything," Sephiroth remarked as he came into view, eyes settled on Lazard instead of Genesis.

Lazard shook his head, "No, I just finished. What brings you here?"

Sephiroth smirked, "I thought of something that would be…beneficial to our operatives. Remember when that small group a few months ago had been captured and forced to talk through extensive tortures and endless humiliation?"

Lazard raised an eyebrow. He had a feeling this wasn't going to be good. "Yes, I do remember that."

"I think we should prepare our operatives for those situations. We all know we can live through torture, but no one enjoys being humiliated." He still hadn't looked at Genesis, and Genesis hadn't bothered moving as he listened to Sephiroth's words.

"You want to…send our operatives through humiliation so they're prepared for the possibility of being captured?"

"Yes. If you think about it, they'll get used to the humiliation that they won't talk if they do get captured. That way Shinra's secrets can stay as that…a secret."

Lazard moved his glasses slightly to get a better look at Sephiroth, "I'm afraid to hear why you came up with this idea, but I have a feeling I already know." Genesis glanced at Sephiroth and quickly diverted his eyes. Oh jeez. He was going to die in here, wasn't he?

But Sephiroth pushed it off, "The others would act differently than I had and you know that."

Lazard nodded before turning his attention to Genesis, "What do you think?"

_Why the hell is he asking for my opinion? It's not like I'm worth shit to these two._ "That it's a bad idea, but I think that's because I would have to go through the tests."

"It's people like you that allow information to get leaked," Sephiroth remarked quickly.

_What a dirtbag. I can't believe he'd say that!_ "Leak what? I don't know anything besides the fact that your nuts are vulnerable to fire." Oh fuck, he just said that in front of Lazard. Why didn't he think before he spoke?

Before Sephiroth could punch his lights out Lazard had to interrupt, "I thought you said you two had settled this?"

"We did. I apologized and he cracked me in the jaw." Might as well tell the truth now.

Sephiroth sighed and he glared at Genesis, "You deserved it."

"I bit a hole in my tongue. I didn't deserve that."

Lazard shook his head as the two went on. He was surprised they were fighting over such a thing. It must have been about pride or something… Yet it was interesting to see Sephiroth acting like this in front of him. Sephiroth never talked this much, it was refreshing to see him a bit more livelier.

"Your tongue will heal."

"So will your nuts but you obviously thought otherwise."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Sephiroth snapped at him. The impatient tone he had with Genesis could be heard clearer now, and Lazard didn't interrupt as he kept his eyes on the two.

"It just means that you overreacted and took it out on me because you're a jerk."

Lazard gave a slight 'ahem' and glanced as the two finally brought their eyes to him. "I think you two need to settle your disagreements with each other and move on with your lives. I personally think that as your part in SOLDIER you shouldn't be fighting each other, especially over something so minimal." He noticed Sephiroth about to fight but he held up his hand to stop him. "Damages were taken, yes, but you can solve them and get over it. As for your humiliation test, I think that's more to exact revenge on Genesis then anything else, so I believe that it's unnecessary to bring such practices into our schedules. Now, if there isn't anything else you need to talk about, I think the two of you can leave and go on with what you have planned for the day."

Sephiroth didn't show that he was upset, but the air around him did seem tense. He turned and left as easily as he came. Genesis stood there for awhile in Lazard's presence wondering if he should have made his escape before Sephiroth or not. The man could easily chase him down, but then again, he could be waiting for him to leave.

"Genesis, you can go," Lazard remarked.

"Yeah I'm just…waiting in hopes that Sephiroth has made it across half of the building by now."

Lazard cracked a smile at that as much as he didn't want to. "He won't hurt you. Sephiroth only has his power reserved for fighting enemies. The most he'll do is bat you around a bit like a kitten."

Genesis didn't imagine Sephiroth as a kitten, more like a ferocious beast on a chain. "Right." Genesis scooted his way out of Lazard's office into the hallway, eyes scanning each corner and doorway in case he could find a lock of the silver hair. He should have known better that Sephiroth knew how to hide. As he rounded a corner a hand grabbed him and pulled him into a dark room. He would have liked to scream and call for help, but being in SOLDIER he'd find that a bit demeaning on his part. His eyes didn't catch who is holder was, but he could only assume Sephiroth. "Please don't break me."

"Give me a good reason why I shouldn't." Genesis could feel how close Sephiroth was, and if he strained his eyes he could see the glistening green eyes staring into his own. He really had no reason that Sephiroth shouldn't snap him in half. It took him awhile, mostly making unintelligible noises to ward off the time he was wasting before he could utter something helpful.

"L-Look, why don't we just forget everything? Y-You're not busy right now, right? Why don't I buy you breakfast, or lunch, or whatever you want. There's no need to fight."

The silence made Genesis scared, but the words he was hoping for did meet his ears. "Fine."

Genesis let out a small sigh of relief. He didn't say anything beyond that, only followed Sephiroth as the man left the area in his quest for food. _I wonder if bringing up food anytime he's angry will save my life every time?_ "Hey, Sephiroth, can I ask you a question?"

Sephiroth gave him a livid look but only crossed his arms as he got into the elevator to reach the first floor. "Perhaps."

"Have you ever been scared about going on a mission?"

Sephiroth thought Genesis would ask a dumb question, but he was surprised that he gave a somewhat decent one. "When I first started out, yes."

"But not anymore?"

"No. I got over it."

"Do you ever think you'll get caught or…captured or something?"

"I think the goal of the enemy is to kill us, not capture us. I'm not afraid of dying."

"Doesn't the enemy know that? Wouldn't they want to hurt us more than please us by killing? I mean, you talked about how we're trained to live through the hardships and whatever…"

"You mean capture us and humiliate us? I don't actually think the enemy would do that. Lazard was right, I just wanted revenge."

"Oh. Well…I don't know, it seemed logical. Wouldn't it be an embarrassment to Shinra if they captured us and just…bashed the whole SOLDIER system to the public?"

Sephiroth gave a small shake of his head. "They would never let it get out, it'd be easy to control the media since President Shinra rules over most of everything in Midgar. You shouldn't worry about it, you're bound to die instead of be caught."

"Well I wasn't worried about me, I knew that's how I'd go, but you're different. You're 1st class, people probably want to take out some frustrations on you."

Sephiroth watched the doors open and he gently exited, though Genesis's words plagued his thoughts. "Because I'm their worst enemy?"

"Yes."

"Whether they capture me or kill me, it matters not. I have no plans in telling them anything and no intention of giving in."

"I guess. I suppose I just thought you'd have some fear about those things."

"Why? It's not like they can threaten to kill my family. I have no attachments to anything, so the worst they could do is kill me. I'd be worthless to keep hostage."

"I'm sure the company would support in trying to get you back."

"Yes, but that's a waste of SOLDIER operatives. If they've got me, what makes it likely that people who are weaker than me could overpower them?"

"You never know. Maybe someone as ridiculous as myself could somehow defeat a person you thought was unbeatable?" Genesis was mostly joking because he didn't think he could ever do that. In reality, he was pretty sure that Sephiroth would always be over him and would always fight the harder enemies.

Sephiroth stepped out into the world and found it another bleak and gray day. "Of course, you'd set their pants on fire, how could I forget that?"

Genesis gave a slight laugh. He already forgot about that. "Sorry. Really, I am."

Sephiroth shook his head before turning his eyes to Genesis, "I just don't understand you sometimes."

"What? What don't you get?"

"You say you're sorry, then you do something stupid and after I nail you in the mouth you say you're sorry again."

Genesis nodded, "Well…if I wasn't doing something stupid in the first place none of the other things would have happened, so I have a reason to say I'm sorry."

There was a moment of silence before Sephiroth glanced around at the people. It didn't seem like anyone was following them. "I have a question for you now. Why did you lick me?"

Oh god, of all the questions to ask why did Sephiroth go for that one? Genesis felt rather embarrassed and hot-faced. It wasn't like he meant anything by it! "I was just trying to freak you out. I think it worked."

"Just a little bit," Sephiroth remarked sarcastically. "You do make me question everything about you, I hope you know."

"What, do you think I did it because I wanted to get all over you? If that was my intention I probably would be too embarrassed to do it because I would know that you'd reject me."

"How do you know that?"

"Because our previous conversations you said you didn't find anything exciting about me, so that would be a giant statement to me that you're not interested."

"Is that all?"

"You also said that you weren't interested in anything aside from killing."

Sephiroth nodded slightly before making a round by the corner, passing by a few strangers. "And that would stop you from hitting on me, even if you had it really bad for me?"

Genesis shrugged, "I'd probably find it pretty futile to attempt anything. Maybe I'd do it just to let out some sexual frustration or something, but I'd know that I wouldn't get any so I shouldn't try too hard."

"See, in my mind I think that you really want to be all over me and you're just putting up a fake front to hide it all. You say you're not interested, but I think you really are and that you're going to make as many attempts as you can even if it means getting physically hurt. As far as I know, you might even like being hurt by the person you're dying to be with. I think that's why you keep coming back for more."

Genesis thought it was a pretty legitimate argument, but he knew for sure he wasn't into Sephiroth. He didn't think he'd be able to swing that way as hard as he tried. "It's kind of weird that you'd tell me that."

"Well, I thought if I told you then you'd tell me 'you're right, I want in your pants' and then we could get that out of the way."

"I don't want in your pants."

"That wasn't what I was looking for," Sephiroth remarked in disappointment.

"Well I don't. Wait. If you want me to say that, does that actually mean you're trying to come out on me because you think I'm easy? And because you've never done anything with anyone, you'd find it easy to toy with me and test if you like sex or not? Whoa, that's weird."

Sephiroth couldn't believe Genesis had turned the conversation on him. He wasn't thinking it'd happen like that. "What? No. I have no interest in you whatsoever, let alone in boys."

"Then why were you so persistent?"

"I was testing you."

"Testing what? To see if I could spread my legs for you? Jeez. I didn't know you were desperate."

"I'm not," Sephiroth snapped, "Just forget it."

Genesis kept following him before he had to bring the subject back up. "Well, if I was gay and totally into you, and you wanted to test the waters, would you still pick me?"

"What kind of a question is that?"

"I mean, I'd be readily available and no one would know."

"You're an imbecile."

"I'm just saying what would make sense."

"It doesn't make sense because it's not even true and it will never be true."

"The fact that we're both not into each other?"

"Exactly. Glad you're catching on."

"You had it coming, you started it."

"No, you did when you licked me."

Genesis laughed, "Man, you must have had nightmares about that or something, I didn't think it'd bother you this much. You should be glad nothing else happened."

"Why, would something else happen? I thought you said you weren't into those things. You shouldn't lie."

"What? Hey, I wasn't lying!"

They entered into the quaint little restaurant and Sephiroth dropped the subject without replying to Genesis. As long as Genesis was upset it made him feel better, and if he didn't respond back maybe it meant Genesis wouldn't be able to turn it back on him again? When they took their seats and ordered what they wanted the silence continued onward. Sephiroth didn't have much to say and he had a feeling that Genesis would speak up if he wanted to talk. But Genesis still had some fear and regret settling deep in his stomach. He wondered what Sephiroth really thought about him and his sexuality. He hadn't meant to come off like a slut or anything, though he knew he acted pretty risky. Yet, it was pretty natural for Genesis to act that way around anyone. All the girls back home got the same treatment, and some of his closest friends got quite a few friendly passes at them. Genesis felt like he should lay off Sephiroth, mostly because he didn't want to cause anymore problems between the two of them. Besides, last joking move he made on the guy he got hit. He couldn't imagine what would happen if he did something else even riskier than licking up pie. Although, if Sephiroth was freaked out he obviously wouldn't be talking to him right now, even with the incentive of free food. Could Sephiroth possibly find the attention appealing?

Sephiroth noticed the prolonged silence as Genesis was in his own head. The boy got that weird look about it, where he was looking at something but was clearly looking far beyond it. Sometimes he wished he could read people's thoughts. He wondered what went on inside Genesis's head, if anything ever did go on in there. "Did Lazard assign you a mission today?"

Genesis broke from his trance to stare into Sephiroth's bright green eyes, their catty pupils hinting curiosity. "No. I think I'm just supposed to train today…"

"Hmm. Then Lazard called you in for something else?"

Genesis nodded but didn't reply quickly as a man had brought back some food for them to eat. He didn't know whether it was safe or not to bring up the subject. Weren't they supposed to get over the whole pants-on-fire thing?

"What'd you talk about?" Sephiroth implored, irritated that Genesis avoided answering his questions completely.

"He basically told me to play nice with you because you're important and you're also really moody."

Sephiroth frowned at that. Moody? Lazard said he was moody? He knew he was, but he didn't appreciate Lazard telling that to people. "Oh really…"

"Yeah. I think he's pretty captivated by you. He had that little…twinkle in his eye like you're his star pupil or something. The bad boy that somehow charms the teachers or something."

Was Genesis hinting at something to Sephiroth and he wasn't catching it? "Most people enjoy me because of what I do."

"I know. I just think Lazard would be upset if something bad happened to you. Like an attached mom to her baby boy."

Sephiroth toyed with his fork before bringing his eyes up to Genesis. "Are you trying to make a point?"

Genesis shrugged. "Just saying Lazard cherishes you."

"Yes, I can understand that, but I feel like you're trying to get at something else."

"Oh, like the fact that he might be gay? Well I don't know. He does dress a bit…more costume-y than most others, but he does look pretty good. I don't think that really has any factor in his attachment in you, though. Well. Maybe. How old is Lazard? I can imagine him going after your tail if you're close in age. Unless he's one of those creepy guys that is really old and tries to touch younger men."

Sephiroth sighed at Genesis's words. It was as if everything he didn't want to hear would automatically come forth from his mouth. "Lazard is a wonderful man that does a lot of work to insure that we operatives are safe and put on the correct missions with the correct people. Whether he's sexually attracted to men or not doesn't bother me or my work. I think you should learn to do the same."

"It doesn't bother me if he is or isn't, I was just saying what I thought. Kind of like how I don't understand you and your taste in people, but it doesn't bother me in the least."

Sephiroth went silent again as he ate some more of his food. He really didn't understand Genesis at all. At times it seemed like Genesis was really into men and then wasn't. Sephiroth would never hold it against him, but he did have limits when it came to someone being close to him. It was one of the reasons why Sephiroth hit Genesis in the mouth after licking him, he didn't want Genesis to be that comfortable with what he was doing. But then Genesis would declare he wasn't gay, which Sephiroth could hardly believe. Did Genesis have a fear that he'd be persecuted for his preference in the same sex?

Genesis glanced around at the people in the restaurant. There weren't too many in the morning, but Genesis could easily spot the attractive people. He made a small noise and nodded toward someone, "Sephiroth, look at her. She's fucking hot. She's spilling out, practically. But classy spilling."

Sephiroth glanced over at a woman that was dressed in business-like attire, her blouse was low cut in the front and had ruffled trim which accented her cleavage. Sephiroth noticed her legs and how she was wearing tall heels, and her tight skirt stopped perfectly above the knee. His eyes went back to his food like it was nothing special. "Spilling out?"

"Her breasts, they're begging to be free from that shirt. Ooh, you know if you look hard enough I think you can tell what she's wearing underneath."

Sephiroth didn't look back up, he continued to eat his breakfast while Genesis eyed up this poor woman.

"Bend over…bend over….come on…." Genesis kept watching and smirked, "She's not wearing underwear, and if she is there isn't much to it."

Sephiroth gently put his fork down, "Genesis, I'm eating. Please keep your comments to yourself."

Genesis brought his eyes away from the woman and back to Sephiroth who looked relatively perturbed. "It's not my fault you don't enjoy babe watching."

"What you're doing is lewd and disgusting."

"No, I'm just getting my daily candy before I have to go and train with a bunch of vulgar, sweaty guys. I have to think about something…"

"Fine, but absorb the picture and comments and don't say them out loud."

"Hearing you talk like this makes me think you're jealous of women or something. Are you afraid that I think they're prettier than you?"

Sephiroth glanced over at the woman as she had taken a seat. She looked decent in his mind, but it was just the same as everyone else he ever met. "I don't think that has anything to do with it."

"Are you sure?" Genesis remarked and leaned forward. "You're pretty fucking sexy if you ask me, I could totally understand if you find everyone else inferior to your looks, and therefore want more praise."

Sephiroth shook his head at Genesis's words. "No, I don't need you to praise me, and no I don't think everyone is inferior to me. Just eat your food."

Genesis sat back as he took a sip of his drink, but he went straight back to the subject. "You know, I think I'm going to get everyone else to start saying nice things about your looks as well. You'll really like it after awhile, especially when you're in your shitty snappy moods."

"Please don't."

"Why not? I think your body is pretty hot, people should recognize that."

"I think you're confused about your orientation, and I don't enjoy compliments so please keep them to yourself. Also, if you get others to start talking I will make your life a miserable hell."

Genesis was silent for awhile before a smirk came onto his face. "Sorry, what did you say? I was busy watching your beautiful lips move, singing such sweet music to my heart."

Sephiroth sighed and brought his eyes back to his food. Such a waste to leave it here, but Genesis was getting on his nerves. "I said don't."

"What? I think you're just embarrassed." Their waiter had been heading back their way and Genesis turned to look at him. "Tell me, don't you think Sephiroth is spanking hot?"

The guy looked at Sephiroth and got a flirty smile on his face, "Definitely. I'd be all over that and then some."

Genesis nodded before his eyes turned to Sephiroth, "See? Told you."

Sephiroth sighed and pushed his plate away, "Look, I have things to do. Why don't you pay and go do your training?"

Genesis was startled by Sephiroth's hunger to leave suddenly. "What? But you haven't finished—"

"I have," Sephiroth remarked and got up and moved out of the restaurant.

Genesis was surprised by Sephiroth's leave and looked at the waiter. "Well…that didn't go over well."

The waiter shook his head, "No, it didn't. You came on too strong. Maybe go for subtlety next time?" He handed over the little book containing his bill, "Don't worry, I think he's a bit out of your league anyway."

Genesis watched the waiter leave as well and he felt pretty stupefied by that. Did that waiter just insinuate that…but…he…

Ugh. He felt like such a major screw up on everything. Not only that, but he felt like his pride was shot. Did everyone think he liked guys? Did Angeal think he liked men? He'd have to ask…

Genesis put down the gil and a tip before going out into the open world. Sephiroth was nowhere to be seen. No shining silver locks, no blazing green eyes, or even that timid smirk for the camera. All he saw was a sea of uninteresting, unintelligent people going by him. _Maybe I'm just doomed to never have him as a friend, an equal, or even a good comrade. He will always be the top dog with his authoritative opinion and I will be the lapdog that will forever sit and wait for orders, not from him, but from all the others. Our connection will forever be severed and he will always turn away from having it coming together in one tie. I think I joke too often with him, maybe he's not prepared for anything close or nice. But should I be rough and distant like everyone else? How could I pull off something like that…when all I really want is to be a good friend?_

Genesis stepped into Shinra's Headquarters and went for the training room, eyes settling past every person that was in there working away to become the best thing. He didn't feel like he was good at anything anymore. A farmer, what good was a farmer out here in Midgar? A farmer wasn't good at all…

He moved over to the computer and flashed his ID at it, registering him in before he found his spot at a machine and started to work. His eyes focused on a poster in his range of sight, and he loftily read the motivational words on it. _Maybe it's time I talk to Angeal…and tell him I might just quit…_

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Until next time! Hope you enjoyed. Pleeeease comment/reply, I enjoy reading what you guys think of this stuff. Also, sorry for taking so long (if I did take long) I've been swamped with homework. I have finals in two weeks, so I thought I'd update now to help reprieve everyone with their own duties!

The next chapter will be about…well, who knows? I've got some plots running through my head, but I guess it's a mystery for the both of us.


	4. Chapter 4

For reasons unknown to me, I decided to write another chapter for you guys before my finals. Why would I do such a thing? Because I'm crazy and I love you all.

Please enjoy this action packed chapter!

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Training went by quickly throughout the week. He had avoided Sephiroth pretty well, or Sephiroth avoided him, Genesis wasn't sure. Either way, he hadn't talked to the man at all and each day he regretted being in SOLDIER. To Genesis it felt like a hodge-podge dream that was missing the pieces he wanted. Genesis didn't even bother telling Angeal that he wanted to quit, he felt ashamed each time he saw his friend having a good time with everyone else. Maybe he should just quit without saying anything? It sounded appealing to him…

Each night he got less and less sleep the more he thought about quitting and giving up on everything. The few chain letters he got from the Silver Elite group didn't make it much better. All of their feedback asked for more pictures and had sent more information about Sephiroth than Genesis could ever care for by now. He didn't want a secondary source telling him about Sephiroth's life, he wanted Sephiroth to tell him everything. Like that would ever happen…

One night he was so burnt out from all of his worries he started to cry. He felt so defeated and worthless lying in bed weeping, and as much as he tried to stay silent Angeal had heard him. The man had roused from slumber and moved over to Genesis's bed. "Hey," his voice gruffly murmured to Genesis. "Are you okay?"

Genesis looked at his friend. _I've never been able to hide anything from Angeal no matter how hard I've tried. And here I am, a week of training and misery and I start bawling because I hate this place and my failed relationship with people. I'm so pathetic._ "I don't want to be here anymore."

Angeal took a minute to absorb what Genesis meant. Gently he sat down in bed and pulled his friend into him, giving a warm bear hug to the poor boy. "You're homesick."

"I'm just sick of everything."

"Tell me what's on your mind."

Genesis let loose, telling him about the issues with Sephiroth, his problem with the system in SOLDIER, how he felt different than everyone else, how he couldn't sleep at night, even his concerns about quitting and how he should do it. Angeal patiently listened to Genesis tell him everything before he gave a heartwarming speech to help Genesis calm down. "I know it's hard to make new friends in a place you're not used to. Even the two of us can't be together all the time, but even so you shouldn't get discouraged. Think, the more you train the further we will get to becoming actual helpers of the human race. People need us as much as we need people. You've never quit on anything before and you won't quit now, not if I can help it." Angeal gave Genesis a slight shake, "It's what friends are for."

Genesis leaned into Angeal and hugged him, head pressed against Angeal's shoulder and neck. "I just don't know what I'm doing anymore."

"There will be times when we don't know what will happen to us, and that's when strengthening your bonds between people is best. If you're concerned about Sephiroth you should approach him before his vacation is up. He's heading out pretty soon, supposedly won't be back in a few months."

Genesis pulled from Angeal and stared him in the eyes. "What should I do?"

"Give him dinner, you're good at that."

"But what do I say? Everything I say to him is just…word vomit. He always finds it unappealing."

"Then don't talk so much, he'll speak up for you. Trust me." Angeal waited until Genesis gave a small nod before he stood up. "Now get some sleep, all right? Wake up tomorrow morning and go talk to him."

Genesis nodded and got comfortable in bed. As soon as his head hit the pillow he was out.

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_There isn't much I can really say to Sephiroth, and the more I think about it the more I can't think of anything intelligent to say. He hates everything I do, so if I just offer to take him out to eat, maybe he'll just accept and assume I'm just reminding him that I'm paying him back?_

Genesis got ready for the day. He had a mission to do in the afternoon, but he assumed Sephiroth wouldn't be busy before then so that they could do something. Yet when he arrived at Sephiroth's door he found the man already preparing to leave. "Sephiroth." _Shoot, he's leaving, I'm too late._

Sephiroth looked at him and noticed the hallway was still empty. He gave a slight smirk, more out of force than anything else. "Yes?"

_He looks pissed at seeing me. Maybe Angeal was wrong, maybe Sephiroth and I will never be able to see eye-to-eye?_ "I…um." Genesis waited a moment. "When are you leaving?"

Sephiroth looked him over before deciding he could waste some time on him. "I'm being briefed about my mission. I leave tomorrow. Did you need something?"

"Yeah…well…not really. Is your entire day busy?"

"Unfortunately, yes. Briefing for me is basically an all day meeting memorizing locations, people, numbers about everything…. It's necessary when you're going straight into the enemy's base. It's dangerous, it's a lot to learn, but I'm the only one who can do it so far and get out alive."

Genesis slowly nodded, "Right, it's why you're 1st class. I just wanted to say good luck."

Sephiroth kept his eye on Genesis, but noticed the man had nothing else to say beyond that. "Thank you. Have a good day." Sephiroth was gone like that and Genesis moved back to his room to find Angeal waiting for the news.

"Well?"

Genesis drearily shook his head as he sat down in a chair. "He's busy all day today. Tomorrow he's gone. It's too late."

Angeal felt a bit bummed for his friend, but he strode over and gave him a rough shake. "Hey, when he comes back you can do something nice for him. It's not like he's vanishing forever. Whatever snapped between you two will instantly rekindle when he's back. Anyone would want a friend to talk to after a long mission like that. You know what? Why don't we go to the bar tonight, get you loosened up a little."

Genesis smiled at Angeal and nodded at the idea. "All right, sounds good to me." Anything to get his mind off of Sephiroth.

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It was probably the worst idea Angeal had come up with as of yet. The other guys had joined them for going to the bar, and most of them had kept their liquor intake to a minimum. Genesis had defied himself and drank as much as he could, intoxicating himself to the point he could hardly stand up. It was at this point, while Genesis was sloppily trying to finish the remains of his drink, that Angeal had asked him to stop and to leave.

"Hey, I think you've had enough, Genesis. Why not we go back and get some sleep? You're going to be feeling this all in the morning."

Genesis grabbed around Angeal's neck and nodded slowly. "Yeah you know, I just don't feel good right now. Going back sounds good."

The others watched as Angeal escorted Genesis out. A few passed a few lewd comments. "You see that? Genesis got hammered pretty dang badly."

"Yeah, I think he's mourning or something, that guy has been acting pretty weirdly."

One of the few shrugged as he saw a stripper going up on stage. "Hey, who cares. The guy probably misses his mommy and just needs someone to hold his hand."

"Yeesh, can't believe Angeal has dealt with that all his life, I'd go nuts."

Another agreed, "Yeah, no shit."

But their middle member seemed to think otherwise. "He's crying and pissing over himself about Sephiroth leaving. Genesis attached to that guy like a dog to a squeaky toy. Hell, knowing that guy he probably tried to get in Sephiroth's pants and got quite the violent rejection. I say we should all watch out. Setting Sephiroth's pants on fire was all just a front, I think he wants to just put his hand down the guy's pants."

A few muttered in agreement, more comments about how disgusting Genesis was about his actions kept going. Meanwhile, Angeal kept up the struggle of bringing his drunken friend back to Shinra Headquarters. He dodged anyone he could and got him to the correct floor. It was hard, considering Genesis walked like his legs were made of jelly. But as soon as they got to the room Genesis started to sober up a little. How that was possible Angeal didn't know, but he could tell something was really bothering Genesis. "Hey, you should go to sleep. You'll feel better tomorrow." A complete lie, but he felt concerned about the boy's loftiness.

"Yeah…I don't know…yeah I will." Genesis slowly prepared for bed, brushing his teeth with precision and washing his pink cheeks to cool them off. He felt really hot, and he stripped down to boxers for the night. But even after taking his time in getting ready for bed, he still felt bothered about something. "I think…I think I'm going to go…go and see Sephiroth."

Angeal glanced at the time, the hour wasn't too late, but it was late enough that Sephiroth was probably asleep trying to prepare for his departure. "I don't think that's a good idea."

"I won't see him in a long time, Angeal, it's my only chance."

"You already said good luck to him this morning, you don't need to say it again."

"No, it's not that, I really just…I just need to tell him some things."

Angeal wondered what those things were, what Genesis was hiding at the moment. Dare he try to take advantage of this drunken fool to make him spill some secrets? "You should tell me what's bothering you."

"No, it only concerns Sephiroth…sorry. I…I just really want to talk to him. I won't take long, I promise."

Angeal watched Genesis amble to the door and go out, stumbling his way into the hallway. He would have followed and pestered him to not bother the man, but he felt like he would only waste his breath. He got into his own bed to fall asleep, ignoring Genesis's fate and pointless journey.

Sephiroth had been straightening up the notes he had taken from the meeting he had. His head hurt, but after mapping things out and sorting through everything, he realized his mission should be relatively easy if everyone was positioned in the correct spots. It'd take awhile to get there and to finish him the entire battle, but he assumed that the job would be much quicker than he had originally thought. When his door opened he almost didn't notice it, but what greeted him had definitely caught his attention. Genesis was clad in boxers, his face was gently pink on the cheeks, and he looked like he was drugged. Sephiroth swiftly set his notes on the nightstand and faced toward Genesis. "Genesis, I'm surprised you're not asleep. Did you need something?"

Genesis gave a slight nod before coming closer to the bed and sitting down beside Sephiroth. It took him awhile to figure out what to say, but things started to flow out once he started. "I just wanted to say that I'm going to miss you, man. I mean it, I didn't see you all week and I felt really bad and everything. I just…I just was afraid you were mad at me, and I couldn't handle that. I was really upset. Now you're going to be gone and I felt like I needed to clear myself up, tell you what I really think and feel. I know you don't want to really be bothered, but I couldn't let you leave me without straightening everything up."

Sephiroth kept his eyes on Genesis and caught the slight hint of alcohol coming from him. Genesis must have gone drinking hardcore if he was talking like this. He wondered why he seemed different… "Oh?"

"Yeah. You mean a lot to me. I look up to you and everything. I know we're like…the same age, but you're my everything. You're like Angeal, except you're out of my grasp sometimes. I really wish we could be closer. I know that won't ever really happen, but I still wish it anyway."

"Why would you wish for something you can't have?"

"Because it reminds me that even if my goal sucks...that I'm still human and still have hope. We all could use a little hope every once in awhile. And I'm going to keep hoping that one day we'll be on the same plane and we'll really connect." Genesis grabbed Sephiroth's arm, and Sephiroth wasn't sure if it was for support or for emphasis of his point. "You're such a good person, I wish I could be like you. I really love you. I don't….I don't even care how weird that sounds, you're just too good to not love."

Sephiroth wasn't even sure what was going on anymore. The man was blitzed, but these things he was saying made Sephiroth feel embarrassed for him. "I'm sure one day you'll be just as wonderful as I am. It's not impossible."

Genesis stared at him before smiling widely and wrapped his arms around Sephiroth, pulling him into a hug. Sephiroth didn't get what he was doing until he saw the position, grasping the thought that Genesis was showing affection toward him. Or something like that, he had never hugged someone before. It literally did not feel good to him, more awkward than anything else. "Just…have confidence, you'll do great I'm sure. When I come back I bet you'll be advanced from the level you are now."

Genesis kept his grasp on Sephiroth while he nodded in return. "I promise I will." There was a moment of silence as Genesis kept his hold on the 1st class SOLDIER. His face felt hotter, and everything felt really weird. After awhile, without even recognizing it, he commented on something that really freaked Sephiroth out. "I'm….really horny right now."

Sephiroth gently tried to push Genesis away from him. "Well you know…I think you should go back to your room and deal with that…it was nice seeing you."

"Okay…" Genesis muttered as he sloppily got up. He got to his feet and grabbed Sephiroth's head, kissing the side of his face. "I love you, man."

"Right," Sephiroth mumbled. He got up himself and pushed Genesis out the door. "Go get some sleep." When he closed his door he wiped off the side of his face. He really didn't like Genesis when he was drunk…it made things even more awkward then they should be…

Well, whatever, he wouldn't have to deal with it for several months. Sephiroth moved over to his bed and turned off his light, getting some shut eye before the morning arrived.

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

_Three weeks have passed since Sephiroth has been here. I'm doing pretty well, I think, but the first week was rather hard not to head toward his room to see if he needed anything. I think I find it rather depressing that he's gone, but I'm also glad that there is time for us to readjust and remember the better things about each other. At least, I think about all the things I'd like to know about him. I wonder a lot on whether he thinks about me and what I'm doing, whether he wants to come back and talk about his mission with the same easiness that Angeal talks to me. I'd really like that, but I know I won't find out how he feels until he arrives home. One more week and it'll be a whole month that he's been gone. It's like starting out from the beginning all over again._ Genesis was working out again in the training room with several others, trying to add more and more weight and do more reps to keep up their physique. None of the other operatives really bothered him and Genesis had resorted to reading to pass the time when he wasn't busy. Thankfully it wasn't like going to school where life was always hectic with work. Here, things were relaxed. _I noticed that Sephiroth reads a lot in his spare time, I wonder what kind of books he reads? I think I'll ask him when he comes back, just because it seems like something he might be interested in talking about. Surely he's read some good books while he's been here at Headquarters._ He stretched his arms as he had finished working out and moved to straighten out his legs, the muscles tensing at the workout. He didn't remember the night where he got drunk and kissed Sephiroth on the cheek. He didn't even remember telling Sephiroth goodbye that night. When Angeal had told him he had gone over Genesis thought he was joking and the only way to confirm it was to ask Sephiroth. Unfortunately, the hero had already left. Genesis didn't care so much, he assumed that is last farewell was probably enough for the poor guy.

His attention was brought over to the other guys who were staring at the doorway. Someone was standing there and it took awhile for Genesis to register who it was. Lazard.

"I need all of you to gather up, we have an important meeting in a few minutes. Please get changed and go there as soon as possible, it's in the usual spot."

"What's the meeting about?" One person from the back ventured his thoughts. Lazard gravely took off his glasses and cleaned them, his eyes honing in on the person gently.

"It's bad news, that's all I'll disclose for now. Please hurry." Lazard set his glasses back on the bridge of his nose and left the room.

_What happened? Bad news? I don't understand. Is the President dead? No, I doubt that. Something else must be going on…_ Genesis followed the others back to the locker room and got ready for the meeting. When they made their way over to the room he found Angeal standing there in the back. He slid in beside him and brought his blue eyes up to his curiously. "Do you know what's going on?"

Angeal's mysterious face gave no sign of knowing. He gently shrugged and pointed his chin to the stage, "I guess we'll find out, won't we?"

When the place packed together in their neat order Genesis was surprised to see how small the operative group was. He thought there were far more than this…

"Everyone, if I can call for your attention, I have some grave news to pass on to all of you," Lazard remarked as he stood on the stage with the other head figures, all had stony expressions on their faces. "As you all know we dispatched a group of operatives to follow Sephiroth in overtaking an enemy base. But…as we've discovered…" Lazard took a minute to breathe, as if the news did not want to be given out to everyone.

Genesis's heart was pounding. As soon as he heard Sephiroth's name he could only think of one thing. _No…Sephiroth…please don't be dead. Please don't be dead…_

"The group we dispatched has been killed." Murmurs started to scatter throughout the group. "The enemy overtook them during the night and wiped them out with no mercy." More talk continued.

Finally, someone to the side shouted, "And Sephiroth? What of him?" The group mumbled in agreement, curiously wondering if they could survive if Sephiroth was dead.

Lazard nodded his head gently. "Yes, Sephiroth is still alive, but unfortunately he's alone and in enemy territory. We haven't been in great contact with him because of his dangerous position, we don't want to monopolize his safety. We have an estimate at where he's at and where he's heading, but it's too suicidal for us to allow him to continue onward without any operatives. One man cannot fell an entire army, let alone a country." Lazard noticed everyone had fallen silent for further instruction. Even Genesis was on his tippy toes wondering what Lazard would do about the situation. "All of us have discussed thoroughly what should be done and we've come to the conclusion that we're going to operate a rescue mission. From the time that we've contacted Sephiroth, he's been ordered to stop here in this area." The wall behind Lazard had changed its look to a map, in which he gave the location. "There are less enemies around here and he can find enough shelter until further notice. We'll be gathering a group of you to head out into this zone," Lazard pointed, "To head directly to him. Another group of you will be launching an attack around here, and a few others will be blocking this area. All of you will be going somewhere, your training and tests will be analyzed and you'll be split carefully into your groups. These are very important missions and you'll be briefed further on what you'll be doing and where you'll be going. You'll all be dispatched within the matter of hours."

The crowd went back into its chatter until someone spoke up, "What of the public? Won't they notice we're missing?"

"The public will be told about our fights against the enemy combatants, but they will not know that all of our operatives are being shipped out. It is necessary to keep this secret and low profile. Sephiroth's rescue mission is strictly forbidden to be talked about. The public will panic about any of this information and it's important we keep it under the table."

Genesis brought his eyes to Angeal. The man didn't look too bothered by the information. "I wonder what groups we'll get put into…"

Angeal gave his casual smirk and brought a hand on Genesis's shoulder, giving it a gentle shake. "Hey, we'll be find don't worry. I'm certain Sephiroth knows what he's doing as well, he's used to this. Wherever we're going we'll see each other in the end, trust me." He gave Genesis a gentle pat. "Got that?"

_Oh Angeal, I'm so happy to have you as a friend. If we weren't in a crowd I'd probably hug you and thank you for sticking with me for all of these years. You truly are something special._ "Thanks Angeal, I shouldn't get so worked up as of yet. I'll probably get stuck in the wimpy job anyway."

Angeal shrugged, "You never know."

The screen being used started to split into categories with everyone's names under them. The Director and the other bigwigs started to help split everyone up and give them information on what they needed to know. Being in the back made it harder to see the screen, but Genesis could easily pick out his name and Angeal's. His heart took a leap from his chest. _We're split up. But what category goes where? How are we different? Will he be in battle? Will Angeal be safe?_ They pressed onward as the group was split further and further, the room emptying as people were sent away to smaller rooms for briefing. Genesis had arrived to the head and Lazard smirked gently at him. "Genesis, you're in Group A. Head over to room 231 and Scarlet will give you more information on your mission."

"Which mission am I?" Genesis remarked curiously.

"Rescue operation. You'll do fine. Now hurry along."

_I'm on the rescue mission? You've got to be shitting me. Why was I put on there? Is it stealth? Does the territory have no enemies to the point that we can walk in without any trouble? I don't understand. Me. Rescuing Sephiroth…_Genesis numbly made his way to the door and went to the room where Scarlet was standing, waiting for the others of the group to get inside. It was quite a small group, probably the smallest of the other two. Genesis had worked with only a few of the others in the room, the rest he noticed were 2nd class operatives.

"Seems we're all here," Scarlet remarked before taking a seat and waving her hands for the others to follow suit. "You're on the rescue mission. As Lazard said, you'll be heading into the least notorious territory up into the craggy hills and directly into this abandoned mako shaft. The terrain is far more dangerous then the people around in these areas. Whatever you do, don't get completely immersed in mako, I can't guarantee you'll come out alive. It's going to take a week for us to get you anywhere close to here, and I imagine it'll take the lot of you awhile to travel through the hills, but considering you'll be relatively safe it is necessary that you remember to keep in contact with us. You'll be taking provisions with you that we've packed and extra for Sephiroth. The area he's going into he might run out, so please ration yourselves carefully so you don't eat everything up and starve. The one thing that might be a problem are the bandits in the area. The place is rather uncharted, so some groups use the hillsides as their bases. If they attack you are ordered to kill, but they must make the first move. Any questions?"

Genesis looked at the area wondering how that all worked out, the place looked fine on the map. "When we get to him, what do we do then?"

"You'll return home, of course," Scarlet remarked. Her blonde hair cascaded against her bosom of her red dress, practically asking for people to look at her breasts. "You'll head back the same way you came."

Genesis nodded and glanced at the packet he was handed. It had some of the animals in it along with the weather and other things he could look into. This sounded more like a dumb camping trip to him then anything else, but he'd go along with it. He was saving Sephiroth after all, wasn't that something he could brag about?

The meeting dragged on as the plans were being revised and fine-tuned to ensure that everyone understood what to do and where to go. Genesis was surprised at how serious this was getting, but he felt like their job was probably the easiest. Sephiroth could handle himself, by the time they got to him he would probably eradicate the entire area to the point it'd be safer for Sephiroth to just walk home by himself.

When Genesis met up with Angeal they scrambled around the room to gather anything they needed. He had to ask what group Angeal got stuck in. "I'm going into battle." Angeal seemed relatively pleased with his job. The twinkle in his eye was still there even though he could very well die.

Genesis felt that lump come back into his throat. _Angeal…I don't want you to go into battle, you're too important to me. If I lose you, who will I look up to?_ "Be careful, please."

Angeal laughed at the look Genesis gave him. "Oh come on, give me some credit, I've survived so far I think I can handle this." His friend strode up and grappled the redhead into a hug. "I told you we'll all survive, now stop doubting me and get a little faith, hmm?"

"I'm just worried," Genesis muttered into Angeal's shoulder, "You're my best friend, I deserve to panic when you're gone, right?"

"Yes, I suppose, but I like it when you're in better spirits. I do better when you're smiling."

Genesis laughed and looked up at him, "Yeah sorry…I guess I should stop my bitching and support you more. I just…I just don't want to lose you. You're too good to lose."

"So are you, Genesis, I think life would be pretty boring without you."

Genesis shook his head, "Nah, I don't know, you're the better of us two."

"Only if we're asking you," Angeal remarked and shook him. "You'll do okay and so will I. Which reminds me, what group are you in?"

Genesis glanced down sheepishly, "Rescue mission. Basically we walk in and escort him back home."

"Well, see? At least you'll be able to see Sephiroth now won't you?"

Genesis nodded, "Yeah I guess…but I'd rather you be with him and be safe then myself."

"I can take care of myself. Besides, if you do the right things I think he'll show a spark of interest in you. Just do your best and remember to follow orders. If something bothers you, don't hesitate to speak up. Sometimes the slightest gut feeling can call upon the greatest errors in a plan."

Genesis thought it over before smiling up at him. "Right. You and your good advice, I wish I could be as smart as you."

"Maybe you should just repeat everything I say? You'll sound pretty smart."

Genesis laughed and punched his friend's arm, "I'd probably say the wrong thing at the wrong time."

Angeal quickly grabbed him into a headlock and felt the boy struggle, but he kept him there, "Yeah, you're probably right. No one will hold it against you, though, because you're Genesis."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Genesis murmured as he struggled for freedom.

"It just means they expect it from you." Angeal ground his knuckles into Genesis's skull before letting him go. "Now hurry up and get your stuff, let's head out."

Genesis picked up the last of his provisions and pocketed what he could, following his friend obediently to the hallway. It was intimidating to walk with everyone else like they were being evacuated from the building, and even worse to split ways with his best friend. Angeal gave him a starry-eyed wink and Genesis sent back his usual smirk and wave before arriving with his other group back in the meeting room. Things fell back into their serious manner.

"When are we leaving?" A 3rd class beside Genesis asked.

"In a few minutes once everyone is gathered," one of the 2nd class operatives remarked. It looked like the guy that Genesis had ran into a long time ago. The one that seemed snippy toward Sephiroth… "I hope all of you are ready and prepared for the worst."

Genesis already had a bad feeling about this but he chose not to speak up. The less attention put on him the better. He was handed a bag filled with food and other provisions and was told to mark his name on it. He did, making sure the ribbon of tape was obvious in displaying G. Rhapsodos in his styled and gorgeous handwriting. Most of the others had just used block letters to emphasis the point of who they were, and most were in capitals. After that they were shuffled out the building and told to hold onto their swords and pack their bags neatly into their helicopters before piling in. His eyes went back to the building as the blades started to swoop in preparation for liftoff. _Will I ever see this building ever again? Angeal and his quirky smile? Or…even Sephiroth at the dinner table?_

He watched the place start to vanish away from him, and soon there was nothing else to look at.

OoOoOoOoOoO

The trip there was hell in Genesis's mind. It was cramped in the helicopter, and being in there for a few days and then being packed into vans that jumbled his brain around in his skull made him feel even worse. It was like having constant motion sickness or something but not being able to puke. His entire system was worn out from having very little sleep because of these conditions, and the food tasted rather disgusting. Genesis never understood how anyone could survive off of this stuff, and he assumed he'd be the first to die of starvation because he didn't want to eat any of the garbage they provided him. He kept wondering how Sephiroth could survive off of the crap they gave him, and when they started to trek along the dangerous terrain of rocky hills he had only hoped that getting there on foot was actually easier then arriving on the helicopter ride.

Of course, Genesis's thoughts were merely there to try and make him feel better, but after climbing the craggy hills and scraping his entire body up over and over, he assumed nothing could be much worse than this. He was hungry, thirsty, very tired, his body hurt, and he had been doing this for less than a day and was already prepared to quit. _Did Sephiroth ever have to do a stupid mission like this? Why can't we just fly a fucking helicopter to the abandoned place and pick him up that way? If there aren't any enemy territories around, why are we doing it this way? I can't believe I'm on a stupid rescue mission to save someone who obviously doesn't need saving. I am so fucking pathetic. This entire trip is a joke, and I bet Sephiroth is fine and waiting for us at the end of the mission so he can battle all of us at once. Oh god, another practical joke like last time. I think I'll just give in just so I can get back home and into my own bed._

"Hey, Ginger, careful where you're stepping!" Genesis didn't understand who they were talking to until he had noticed a pair of blazing blue eyes staring at him. _What did I do?_ Genesis looked at where he had stepped and noticed his path had waivered a bit close to the edge. If he fell down there would be no way of retrieving him, let alone him surviving such a fall.

"It's Genesis," he fought back weakly.

"I don't care," his leader spat back. "You fall off we're leaving you, that's that."

Genesis fell silent and moved back into line with the others, eyes glue to the ground before him making sure not to make another false step. The place looked absolutely dead, but Genesis assumed that was because of the fog that had settled in on them. After an hour of trudging it became harder to see anything and they had to resort to linking themselves together. _Great, we're like lemmings. One moron falls and we're all doomed to follow._

They had to stop early, the darkness and the fog had made it far too difficult for them to continue. He helped set up a small camp and make food, mostly because their leaders were 2nd class and liked to exploit their power over the underclass boys. It was while they were eating their rice, which Genesis had no appetite for, when the group had started to question him about a few things. "So, I bet you're feeling pretty nice right now since you're on Sephiroth's recovery mission."

Genesis dragged his eyes over to the leader, his smirking face made him feel irritated. He wished everyone would keep their helmets on forever so that he didn't have to see the looks they gave him. This guy had dark hair, much like a lot of the others, and his shining blue eyes seemed to be filled with some type of cynical gesture. "I don't really think Sephiroth needs to be rescued, but I don't mind being a part of a backup crew in case he does need us."

"Well, I heard some interesting little rumors about you and him," the man remarked, he leaned forward to show off his toothy grin. He was missing a tooth in the bottom row, but Genesis was trying to focus on the subject at hand.

"Like what?"

Another leaned in giving Genesis quite the intimidating effect. He didn't feel so safe with these guys anymore. "We heard that you had enjoyed his presence, if you get my drift."

Genesis thought it over before he started to frown, "You mean like…sex? What? No. I hardly know Sephiroth, how would that even be possible?"

"You look like the type that might put out. And hey, Sephiroth doesn't have much time for girlfriends. He likes the easy ones."

Genesis felt so upset at the turn of the conversation that he wasn't sure whether to be angry and get back at them or to push it off and pretend they were acting childish. "I'm not easy, and I'm not interested. From the few conversations I've had with Sephiroth, I highly doubt he's interested either. And I know for a fact we haven't done anything, so I think you can put the rumor to rest as a false accusation."

The few operatives that were pushing the subject decided to let it drop finding that harassing Genesis could fall out of favor for them then anything else. It wasn't long for them to go to bed, the 3rd class boys having to rotate in turns on staying up and keeping a lookout. When Genesis's turn came he had noticed that there really was no way he could see anything since the fog and darkness were far too thick for him to see through. He had pulled out a small notebook that he had in his pocket and fiddled with a pen, scribbling some words into it to describe his current mood and situation. He did this every once in awhile in hopes that he could tell the story in the future to other people, or maybe if he died someone would have some evidence as to what had happened before his death. Though it was dark Genesis felt like he didn't need the light to tell him what he was writing or where. It didn't really matter to him if it was all over, he just needed something to relax his nerves and to keep him from falling asleep. _'It's been a terrible day of climbing and walking on these shitty hilltops. Everything is made of rock and I've ripped off more skin then I thought I could have while rock climbing. I don't know where we're at or how far in we are, but I can only hope that the fog will clear by morning and we'll reach this hidden mako place soon. Everyone in my group seems rather anti-social and the leaders are dicks, but I expected that from the beginning. The food is horrendous and the fact that I need to stay awake to be a lookout does not help. I'm terribly tired and could use some well-needed rest. Aside from my complaints about my group, I must praise that we've gotten along so far and our teamwork is excellent. I want to find Sephiroth soon and get off this dumb mountain.'_ Genesis stopped there and closed up the notebook assuming that was all he could really say. No sense in wasting sheets repeating himself over and over again.

He kept his eyes wide open hoping to find stars or something along the skyline, but everything was rather dark. It wasn't for another hour when the fog had subdued that he discovered something odd in the distance. He prodded awake one of the 2nd class operatives who woke up rather quickly at the nudging movement. "What it is? Are we under attack?"

Genesis shook his head, "I don't think so, but there's something weird over there."

The operative glanced toward the way that Genesis pointed. There was some odd glowing going on and he called attention to everyone else. "We're going to split up. You 3rd classers stay here while we check out what's up ahead. We'll return if it's safe and kill whatever it is if we need to." Genesis watched the leaders haul their blades up and move out before he could protest.

"I have a really bad feeling about this," Genesis remarked to the guy beside him.

"What do you mean?"

"I don't think we should have split up…"

"I'm sure it's nothing."

The even smaller unit now sat still on the cold rock waiting for the return of their comrades, blades ready in case they needed to run into battle. They had stayed silent, passing a few words between each other wondering when they'd come back. "They're taking a long time."

"It's dark, maybe they're having difficulty moving around?" Genesis remarked.

"I guess."

More silence fell over them until a scream had echoed the night sky and several more could be heard. A gunshot sounded, and then the blasting power of the light could be seen from their spot. It was as if the guns could not stop exploding over and over, and the shouting seemed to continue until the place went dreadfully silent.

"G-Guys? Do you think…they're dead?"

Genesis felt like he was going to be sick. He had no idea what had gone on at that moment, but it was too much for him to handle. "I think…our leaders are dead."

"What are we supposed to do?" Another nervous character remarked, his body mashing into the person beside him. "Should we go check? Should we stay?"

"We can't stay, that'd be like suicide, man, we should get the hell out of here," the person beside him snapped.

"But what if it's our guys that lived and they're coming back to say it's safe now?"

Genesis felt the deepening sickness from his stomach get much worse. "Guys…get your packs, we're leaving."

Their eyes accusingly went to Genesis. "Are you sure? Where should we go? Back? We can't go back they'll follow us."

Genesis waved for him to shut up, "Follow me, we're going to go up and find a place to hide, okay? We're not safe here."

The others, though hesitant in following Genesis, were glad enough to find a leader amongst their weak group. They bundled their items hurriedly and followed Genesis up the stretch of cliff as fast and silently as they could. Together they reached another platform and decided to rest. The blaze of the sky had lightened up and Genesis knew it'd be dangerous to be so out in the open if someone was out to get them. "How is everyone doing energy-wise?"

They mumbled that they were fine and could go on. Genesis looked back over the edge before careening his eyes upward to their next destination. "That's our next spot. Let's go." As soon as Genesis finished they heard another gunshot go off and some weird screaming noises, like laughter from a madman.

"Shit, I think they followed us!" One of the operatives panicked, his blade coming out in the air prepared for battle. He had moved too close to the edge and a bullet zipped through the air and blasted him right through the skull. Everyone panicked. Genesis could feel his gut clenching up and his adrenaline started to pump rapidly. _Run. Run! Get out of here!_

Genesis pointed to the path, "Everyone, this way, hurry!" He dashed out and listened to the group follow him, the sound of the gun going off a few more times made him run harder. They squeezed through tight rocks and had to scramble along jagged mountainsides like rats scurrying away from a cat. Genesis didn't know what to do, he was only going off of the games that Angeal and he used to play back at Banora. The best way to lose anyone running after you on a mountain was to just find a great place high enough up that you could see them before they saw you. But Genesis couldn't see these people and it was obvious they could see him. They needed to block off their path or something…

Another blaze of firepower came shattering around them and Genesis heard the person beside him go down. He curved around a boulder and smashed himself into a wall of rocks. He did his best in crawling up them and heard a bullet ricochet beside his head. When he got up he quickly rolled away from the edge and moved for a safe region near a dip in the surface. But when he got down he had fallen through a soft patch of dirt, which he had thought was stable rock, and went skidding downward into darkness.

After landing painfully into a dark, murky area, Genesis realized he had fallen into some type of cave holding freshwater. Soaked to his core, he tried to move through the water to find any area to stand on. The gunshots no longer could be heard, and Genesis didn't hear anyone slide on after to join him. He felt confused and hurt about losing his entire group within the matters of an hour. He knew he wasn't going to live much longer especially if the place was this dangerous. But these thoughts only made him think about Angeal and Sephiroth. If he was having this much trouble how were they doing?

It took twenty minutes for Genesis to find surface, and he got out of the water and tried to dry off. It was cold and his body shuddered violently while he stumbled around trying to get out of the cave. _I'm stuck in here all by myself in a place that I have no map to. All of my provisions are soaked and I'll probably have to abandon half of it to keep going by myself. I can't believe I'm going to die in some unknown place! Angeal…I really wish you were here right now…_

Genesis kept going, eyes wide open in case someone happened to pop out at him. A few times he spooked himself with his reflection in the water that trickled near him. But as another hour went by and Genesis continued to travel, he found that the fatigue from running had taken over.

"A small nap couldn't be bad…could it?"

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

Sephiroth had traveled the treacherous terrain that Genesis had been experiencing as well, scrambling his way to the mako shaft along a shitty trail that was mostly rocks by now because of how long it had been abandoned. As much as he didn't want to leave his mission he knew that going alone was dangerous. It felt wrong that so many of his comrades had died so quickly. If he had been with them he could have easily protected them all, but considering they were miles behind him it had made such a thing impossible. He didn't even know they had died until Lazard had given him the message.

His eyes glanced up at the grungy rock cavern before him. He was assuming it was the right place considering on his map it matched the right coordinates. Sephiroth approached carefully and checked the area to make sure there weren't any enemy combatants. So far it seemed safe.

He stepped into the rock building staring at the designs and structures that were made to help support people while working here in the mako pits. It was amazing how humans had gone from mining by hand to having the reactors do the entire job for them. But as Sephiroth delved deeper into the caves looking for the green liquid he couldn't find any.

"Must have abandoned it because it ran out," Sephiroth remarked to himself out loud before he turned away to return to the housing area. Once he arrived to the safe area he pulled out his phone and contacted Lazard.

"Sephiroth, are you all right?" Lazard remarked quickly as soon as Sephiroth had called.

"I'm perfectly fine," Sephiroth announced coolly. "I've reached the destination point at last, but no one else is here as of yet."

Lazard pulled up some of his maps and glanced through them. "They should be there in a couple of days, I imagine. The week you've been traveling they had been dropped off. They must be in the mountains by now."

Sephiroth looked around at the place that had been unused. "They obviously haven't been here, it's been absent of human presence for a long time."

Lazard nodded gently before figuring on something. "Perhaps I should send a message to the group?"

"Please do, I only have enough food for a week."

Lazard quickly sent out a message to Genesis's squad…

When the noise of his phone went off Genesis at first didn't recognize what it was. It had been awhile since the thing had gone off that he forgot he even had it on him. He had slept for an entire day and moved through the caves until he found an opening. Unfortunately, though he could see the place he needed to go, it was nearly impossible for him to do so. The place was up on a steep cliff area, and he'd have to go past the place and up a slope to be able to get to it safely. As he looked at the message he saw that Lazard asked for their coordinates. _Like hell if I know where I'm at. This place doesn't make sense._

He had to think of something to send to Lazard, though. "Lost group. Was attacked. By myself. West of location still."

Lazard had kept Sephiroth on the line, but felt relieved when Genesis messaged back. "For a minute I thought…" As Lazard read Genesis's short message he could feel the dread of that information. "Genesis just sent a message, he's by himself. It seems his group was attacked and he was separated from them."

Sephiroth perked at that, "Genesis? Did he give a location or anything?"

"Just west of your location, but he doesn't give any details."

Sephiroth went outside in hopes of finding him. "Track his cell phone, see if you can find his coordinates through GPS."

Lazard fiddled with the computer some more and noticed where Genesis was at compared to Sephiroth. "It looks like five miles from you."

Sephiroth scrambled up the hillside and looked down at the steep drop on the west side of the mountain. It looked dangerous to climb. "I don't think he'll be able to get up here, it's too steep. Should I just go meet him? We're supposed to head back your way."

"Good idea, I'll send him a message. Also, I'm going to send both of you the other's GPS codes. That way you'll be able to track him, and he can track you. Whatever you do don't let your cell phone die."

"Right," Sephiroth remarked. He had brought spare batteries for these types of occasions, but he didn't know about Genesis…

Genesis received a message back from Lazard. "Sephiroth's heading your way. It's close to five miles. I've sent you a code so you can find him…" Genesis looked through the apps on his phone and found the GPS map. Well, he never knew this was here…

A little dot showed up on the map and Genesis noticed it was Sephiroth. _Oh my God, I can't believe I was this close…and I really thought I was going to die. If Sephiroth gets to me I know I'll be all right!_ Genesis set down his pack in his safe spot and took a seat. He hadn't eaten yet and his stomach pained him. With some difficulty he made a small amount of food and devoured it even though the tasteless garbage was far from appetizing. Anything to fill his stomach. When he repacked his items Genesis took advantage of the time and started to climb up high enough in hopes of seeing where he was at, or where everyone else was at. His journey didn't last very long as the cliff wasn't that high, but he did get a good scope of the place around him. He could see where he was last at before he fell into the cave, or he assumed where he was last at. It wasn't like he had journeyed very far…

A gunshot went zinging by him and Genesis lost his balance, tumbling down the cliff side painfully. When he hit the bottom he cried out in pain and did his best to get up and run. His eyes whirled to behind him and he finally saw the enemy, gun positioned in hand to shoot him down. He sent a fireball blasting through the air before picking up his pace, wriggling in and out of the jagged rocks for shelter while still trying to get out of the dangerous mountainside.

Sephiroth had been heading at Genesis when it showed that Genesis was moving himself. Where was he going? He decided to call him, tired of wondering what was going on.

As Genesis had snuck around a boulder for safety he heard his phone ring. Quickly he pulled it out and saw how smashed it was. He must have landed on it when he fell from the cliff… "What?" He remarked quickly, unable to tell who was calling him anymore.

"Genesis, where are you going?"

"I'm trying not to get killed! Someone's firing at me!"

Sephiroth started to pick up his pace at that, "Right now?"

Genesis looked back and heard more blasts, a piece of the boulder he was hiding behind flew off and hit him. "Yeah."

"What do they look like? Bandits?"

"I only saw one person and he was covered from head to toe."

"What about color?"

"Definitely green. Blended in pretty well with everything else around here."

Sephiroth shook his head in disbelief, "It sounds like Wutai soldiers…" Sephiroth glanced back at the map and noticed a few other marks. "Genesis, do you have any idea where you're at?"

"No, I don't. I was following everyone else and then this shit happened."

"I think you're near one of their bases."

"You're joking, right? Scarlet said we'd be safe aside from bandits."

"Bandits up here don't have high tech guns. They wouldn't have been able to kill so many people because the aim would be off. We underestimated the enemy."

"Great, just what I want to hear," Genesis muttered as he stole another glance backward. He noticed some movement going on. "Oh shit, I think they're coming this way."

Sephiroth jumped up into the air and began to ease his way up a cliff. As he reached the top he held up his right hand and watched a surge of magic begin to harvest within his hand. "Tell me if you feel this."

Genesis wanted to run, unsure if he should or not when the ground started to rumble distantly. "The earth's moving."

"I have an idea and I need you to start running my way right now. Don't stop and don't get shot."

Genesis listened to the phone hang up and he panicked. Was he crazy? But he obeyed orders and made a run for it, the blasts of the guns behind him echoing throughout the hills. What more could he do aside from run? Though Genesis began to grow tired from dodging and jolting around the place, he noticed the sky looked like it was blackening. His eyes went up and he saw odd shadows at first, but then they were glowing. It took Genesis awhile to register what they were. _Did Sephiroth send a shower of magic this way? But I'm right here! He's going to fucking kill me!_ Genesis bolted faster and suddenly felt something hit him. He swaggered but kept running, his mind too set on his destination to get out of the firing range of the magic floating above. He wondered when it'd land down. He noticed that it was like they were hovering or something. Yet, while he continued his run through the jagged mountainside, he realized it was because they were up so high. It would take time for them to descend and blast everything into nothingness.

_Oh sweet Goddess, if they're that small now how big are they in person? Then again, I don't want to know…_

His eyes shot back toward his enemies and noticed how a few were gaining on him. He wasn't sure how that was possible, but he noticed something else. Dogs. Lots of dogs. _Oh God…I'm going to be eaten alive!!_ Genesis booked it across a dipped rockslide and crawled upward into a different grooved path, slinking past boulders and winding his way to the end of the cliff, sliding down the side and catching back onto another grooved area. His eyes went back to the sky and was too late to figure out if he was safe or not. The place shook violently with the impact of the blasts and Genesis slammed himself against the wall. Dust started to cloud his vision and choke him. Pebbles from above started to scatter down onto him, and soon it became larger pieces. He crawled higher and higher in hopes of getting out of the way of moving boulders, but his grasp was lost and he fell back down. Something pinned down on top of him and his struggles were pointless. The place kept shaking violently, and the dust went deeply into his lungs causing him to cough and gag. He suddenly blacked out from the chaos around him…

OoOoOoOoOoO

Sephiroth had traveled all day looking for Genesis. He had called repeatedly but no one answered. He felt guilty, had his actions killed the innocent boy?

The sun had simmered into its red hue as the shadows of the mountain grew longer and darker. Soon it'd be dark and Sephiroth would be unable to travel. He was close, less then a mile away from Genesis's last coordinate before he had vanished from his screen. He must have damaged Genesis's phone pretty badly if he knocked him clear off the coordinates.

He called again, listening carefully in case he heard the familiar ringing of the phone. Nothing. Sephiroth started to run, using bursts of energy to keep him going. Genesis needed to be found before darkness took over. If the man was just wounded Sephiroth would be able to save him…

"Genesis!" Sephiroth started to yell out though he knew it was risking his own safety. "Genesis!"

The night took his voice and gave no call in return.

OoOoOoOoOoO

Genesis felt the world spin as he opened his eyes. Feet were before him. Unfamiliar… the shoes looked odd. His eyes went up the leg and saw the green color before him, the hidden faces behind helmets and masks. One…two…three of them, all gathered around him. His head ached and he couldn't hear anything. _Is this it? Am I going to die now? Angeal…I'm so sorry…I failed you._

An echo of Genesis's name came shattering into the night. All three Wutai men turned to the call of the voice. It came again. They moved out leaving Genesis there. They thought he was too wounded to be able to survive, and even Genesis thought the same way.

"Genesis!" Sephiroth called once more when he saw the movement to his left. His blade came thrashing out but his actions weren't fast enough. The Masamune was shot from his hand and he felt people grapple and smash him into the ground. Though his heart told him to fight, he knew he couldn't escape without getting hurt. A gun was neatly planted beside his head, the metal was cold against his temple.

"Identify yourself."

Sephiroth clenched his teeth but answered. "SOLDIER, 1st class, Sephiroth."

A moment of silence fell between them before one man brought out a light and shone it beside Sephiroth's face, the haunting green eyes lit up perfectly. "Forget the other one, let's bring this troublemaker back to base. I think everyone will be pleased to hear we finally caught this bastard. And just think of all the things we could negotiate with those dicks in Midgar."

Sephiroth was pulled up from the ground and forced to move out. His eyes went back toward the area where he assumed Genesis was at. And to think he could have saved him…

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

A week passed and Lazard heard nothing from Genesis or Sephiroth. Neither had sent back a message confirming that they were all right. He felt worried and panicked, his thoughts falling on the worst situations on what may have happened. He was in another meeting with the President and the other head directors of their apartments. Hojo was the only one who looked bored about the entire ordeal.

"We've been accepting as many people as we can and have been training them tirelessly, but none of them will be able to face off against our enemies at this rate," Lazard remarked while looking at the charts before him. "We've doubled our numbers and lowered our expectations."

"Well, we need an army before we can expect much of them," Scarlet replied.

"Seems like a bunch of bogus to me," Hojo sneered. "If Sephiroth's dead then this war is clearly over. Why drag it out any longer? Besides, these meetings don't solve anything."

The President looked over at Hojo carefully sizing him up, his moustache wiggling as they all started to battle against each other. "Enough, enough. I have faith that Sephiroth is still fine."

A boy strode up from the door and glanced at the bigwigs shyly before holding out something, "This just arrived, sir."

The President looked at it and picked up the package from his hands, quickly opening it up. Inside was a disc. He frowned at that and looked for a note from anyone. "I wonder what this is…"

"Probably a bomb," Hojo sarcastically said. The others glared but he gave no motion that he cared what they thought of him. "Well, let's put it in and see what it does."

After some hesitation they had allowed for the disc to be loaded on the computer. Their eyes moved toward the screen as a Wutai warrior appeared. Everyone tensed at this.

"Good evening my dear friends. I sent you this little present in hopes of negotiating with you about our previous quarrels. I know that you've been sending quite a lot of your lackeys into our territory, and I'm willing to admit that we've killed almost all of them. We kept one alive, and I'm sure you'll know which one that is."

The tape cut away from the warrior to show Sephiroth chained up with bruises and blood covering him. Everyone muttered in disbelief at the sight. "Hey, princess, why don't you smile for the camera? Your folks back home really miss you." Sephiroth didn't look at the camera. Another warrior came over and clubbed him in the knee causing Sephiroth to let out a small yelp but kept in his screams as best as he could. Then the man started to slam his weapon hard into Sephiroth's stomach, repeatedly bashing his ribcage until Sephiroth coughed up blood. The warriors were laughing at their feat, thinking that Sephiroth's agony was something beautiful.

It cut back to the previous warrior and he laced his fingers together. "If you're prepared to save the life of your pet I suggest you negotiate, otherwise he might not make it out alive."

Lazard sat there completely dumbfounded by what he had seen. Everyone in that region was dead besides Sephiroth? The sinking feeling settled in his stomach while the others grimly turned to continue the meeting. No one was prepared for something like that…

OoOoOoOoOoO

_It's been a week. My body aches, my head hurts, but overall I'm in good shape. I've eaten plenty and got myself out of danger's grasp from the boulders. I remember seeing the enemy and hearing them go after Sephiroth. I can't remember what day that was, but it doesn't matter anymore. Sephiroth is out there and he may very well be dead because he came to save me. The least I could do is to find his body and take it back to Midgar so he can have a proper burial. I've been thinking a lot lately, and I've decided that I'm not fit for this job anymore. Something's got to give, and I think the point is that I don't fit well like the others. I'm out once I get Sephiroth. It'll be my final mission._

Genesis was sitting and resting, as he had been for the past few days, and he contemplated his future and his current task at hand. There was no way around it, Genesis would have to get Sephiroth. When he saw the sky tinged into a lighter color he got up and headed out in the direction he assumed was where he needed to go. Either a mako cave or materia caverns, they would be holding up Sephiroth somewhere. He'd kill everyone if he had to, if that was possible, but he could not stand back and allow the legendary Hero to be taken away just because he had tried to save a piddly-ass 3rd ranker.

_Mom will love to see my face again, I can imagine. She'll be proud no matter what, and dad will ask me to rejoin him on the family business. I can go back to farming, tanning myself dark in the summers and making juice all year round. I'll keep in contact with Angeal and ask him how his job is going. He'll tell me about Sephiroth and how they teamed up to defeat some invincible monster. They'll laugh, like friends. I'll laugh because I won't believe him. Things will be calm, normal. Maybe when I return I'll propose to one of the girls and raise a family of my own. I could have a son to grow up and I can fuel his dreams as well. One day he'll probably want to join SOLDIER and I'll tell him to try, just because it never hurts to try. Then he'll come home as well and find out that his place is beside me. It'll be real nice._

The hours passed and day turned to night. Genesis had traveled without any problems of the enemy combatants. They most likely thought he had died along with everyone else and were too busy entertaining themselves with Sephiroth, if the man was still alive.

He didn't stop. What was the point? There was none. He barreled on through, not once stumbling on his journey through the rocky terrain placed before him.

Daytime. Genesis could feel the sun rising once again, the world turning shades lighter every instant. He could sense he was getting closer, taking great caution to hide himself amongst the shadows. His clothing was so dusted he blended in rather well with the rock surfaces. No one saw him.

_I wonder how he's fairing, if they've given him food to eat or not? And if he has nothing in him I'll give him my ration. He is the only important figure, after all. He can eat all of my food and drink all of my water, then he can leave and I can die. I don't mind so much. Being a farmer is a nice alternative, but if I must die then I might as well let it happen. You can't fight something like that._

Genesis slid toward the entrance but found the guards would spot him far too easily right now. He'd have to wait until the world turned dark again.

Time went by slowly, but Genesis waited there in utter stillness. No one spotted him, no one gave warning that something was wrong. Soon enough all the guards began to head into the craggy cave for safety and Genesis crab crawled his way out of hiding and then slid gently to the entrance. He swooped in and pushed himself to the corner as other guards were heading out. The shadows concealed him well, none of them had seen him there.

As Genesis tiptoed forward into the depths of the cave he could feel the warmth coming from within. He thought it was odd until he noticed the light changing as well. A red, warm hue could be spotted to his right. When he got closer he found displayed before him a group of Wutai warriors partying. Several were drinking heavily and shouting about their victory.

_You have no victory._ Genesis moved back into the shadows and halted. He waited there for several minutes until someone came by swaggering like an imbecile. Swiftly Genesis snapped his neck and pulled the heavy figure into him, grasping at the clothing to undress him. The Wutai outfit was perfect on him and he hid the body underneath his dark clothes. He settled his rapier into a cranny before heading back into the party room, calmly making his way to the other end of the cave.

"Hey, sugar tits, where are you going?"

Genesis turned as someone had called him out. _Sugar tits? Really?_ "What do you want?"

The figure snorted at his snappy comeback but pulled him close. "Hey, let's go see that 1st class SOLDIER, eh?"

Genesis's heart leapt before he shrugged, "Yeah sure, fine."

The man dragged him to a different end of the cavern that went deep and dark for a good minute before reaching into another lit room. Genesis could already hear the noise going on inside. His eyes met a few drunken figures that were surrounding a person on the ground. When they got closer Genesis saw that it was Sephiroth. A sack was covering Sephiroth's head, his clothes were torn to shreds, and bruises covered his entire body. Genesis got closer and watched the person beside him slam Sephiroth down onto his back. "Who wants to do a body shot, eh?"

_These people are disgusting. Look at him, Sephiroth can't even defend himself against this._ He felt someone smack him forward and the group cheered. "There we go, a volunteer. You'll enjoy this." The man prepped up Sephiroth. Salt, tequila, and the lime. "Now show us something sexy."

Genesis's eyes went to where everything was placed. It trailed down Sephiroth's abdomen and the lime stopped right on Sephiroth's exposed pelvic area. Genesis told himself it could be much worse, but still, he was supposed to save him not do body shots off of him. As the group heckled him to get on with it he knelt down and pulled the mask down from his face. _Maybe I can surprise them? Or get them to leave?_ He worked his tongue against Sephiroth like the way he had done before on a girl back at home. It definitely wasn't his first time, and as the group cheered he felt like this was just normal. He slowed down as he approached the lime and his descent further downward on Sephiroth made the group feed harder into the action. He finally picked the lime up with his mouth and the group hollered at the triumph.

"Man, you didn't even flinch," the man that had brought him here had remarked at Genesis's feat.

"You kidding? I could go for some more of that," Genesis replied as he finished off the lime.

"Are you saying what I'm thinking you're saying?" Another interjected.

"Hell yeah, I want to fuck him. That way it'll haunt his ass forever to try and mess with us." Genesis assumed the lewd remark would satisfy the group, and after a few looks were passed he could see grins appearing on their faces.

"Sounds pretty intense, but anything to mess up a 1st class SOLDIER is fine in my book. His mind will be so destroyed he won't be able to fight after this."

Genesis gave a nod, "Exactly." He straddled Sephiroth and glided his hands up his sides, onto his torso, cradling his neck before bringing up the cover on Sephiroth's head. He saw the defeated, tired look on Sephiroth's bruised and dirty face hidden amongst his long, tangled hair. He let his hands go to Sephiroth's biceps and slide up his arms that were bound above his head. In doing this, his body slowly pressed against Sephiroth's. At first the 1st class SOLDIER didn't look at him until Genesis placed his temple against his. Their eyes locked and Sephiroth's defeated eyes turned to something hurt, or maybe confused at the appearance of such bright blue eyes before him. Meanwhile, Genesis let slip one of his materia from his arm allowing it to absorb directly into Sephiroth's. "Hey beautiful, how's about stepping into action?" Genesis whispered to Sephiroth.

Before anyone could react Sephiroth had froze and impaled a large chunk of the warriors that were standing around him with the blizzard materia he was given. Genesis finished off any other with a quick cast of thunder, and sliced them to their deaths to make sure they were dead. Then he helped Sephiroth out of his chains.

"The rest of the group is partying—" Genesis remarked and found that Sephiroth wasn't really listening to him. The man had left and found his blade and materia, thrusting Genesis back the one he gave him. "Sephiroth wait—" But the man was off again into the dark tunnels. When the arrived in the main party area Genesis hardly had time to step in before the place was soaked in blood. Sephiroth's movements were so rapid and quick that he couldn't see them, and when he finished the area was silent. The smell of blood filled Genesis's nostrils and the slimy look to the walls looked eerie as the fire casted a glow against it. Quickly Genesis ran forth to catch up with Sephiroth, but the man had already pulverized another group of people. In less then ten minutes Sephiroth had killed everyone within the base. "S-Sephiroth?"

Sephiroth went over to the exit of the cavern and checked for where the guides were at. A blast of showering fire came so suddenly from Sephiroth's hand Genesis didn't have time to lurch back. He felt the very clothes he was wearing start to sizzle and crackle, the sweat on him vaporizing in an instant. Then Sephiroth pulled out his phone and noticed the battery was dead. Grudgingly he went back into the cavern and searched for his provisions but found them all destroyed.

Genesis had retrieved his blade and pack from the cranny and arrived back to Sephiroth. "I have one, here."

Sephiroth snatched it from him and popped it into his phone. After awhile the phone turned back on and he called Headquarters.

On the other end Lazard was going over the losses that Shinra had felt during the past few months. The new operatives they had hired were far from perfect and were just taking up space more than anything else. The media had blatantly lied and remarked that Shinra's SOLDIER operative was gathering the largest crowd because of people's sudden interest and great marks. As he sat there sickly determining the fate of Shinra Company he heard the phone ring. Gently he picked it up, "Director Lazard speaking."

"It's Sephiroth. The Wutai rats are dead. I'm heading back home."

"What? Sephiroth? How did you get out—"

"We'll talk later. Send someone to get us at the same drop off point."

"Us? Who else is with you?"

Sephiroth glanced into the eyes of Genesis, the boy looked worried but obedient. "Genesis. We're moving out, we'll call later." Sephiroth hung up and put his phone away. He didn't exchange any words with Genesis as they left the cave and traversed on their long journey for home. The disastrous day had finally worn Genesis down, but he didn't speak up about being tired. Sephiroth would comment when they'd need to stop. _I wonder what happened in there, he's not speaking at all. Is he angry at me for my actions or is he that traumatized by his experience?_

A few hours had passed until Genesis's body couldn't take much longer. "Can we stop? I'm really tired…"

Sephiroth had slowed down to stare at the man before he gave a slight nod. "Fine. Over there looks safe." Genesis noticed Sephiroth's words were somewhat strained but he didn't bother by asking what was wrong. He figured a lot of things were wrong for him. "How much food do you have left?"

"Not a whole lot. I kept saving it, assuming that by the time I got to you I'd be killed by the others."

Sephiroth glanced at Genesis as they scooted into a dip in the rock that gave them some shelter. For awhile there was silence until Sephiroth commented on Genesis's words. "You thought you were going to die?"

"I thought rescuing you was a suicide mission. This entire time…I've been thinking about how miserable this mission was. I think I'm going to quit SOLDIER. If every mission ends up killing my entire squad…I don't even see the point in being here."

Sephiroth didn't lay down yet, though his body ached for comfort. Genesis seemed pretty beat up himself. He noticed blood on the man's shoulder and he grabbed onto the small area, the redhead letting out a violent scream. "You're wounded."

Genesis hissed, "Yeah, that was when I got shot running around."

"You need to get it covered better or else if the bullet gets ripped out you'll bleed to death." Sephiroth started to dig through Genesis's pack and then worked away on the wound like it was nothing.

"You're the one to talk, you're covered in bruises."

"Yes, but nothing deep and festering like this."

There was more silence. Genesis couldn't believe they were alive. The more he thought they should be dead it seemed the opposite would continue to happen. "Sephiroth…I'm sorry about the body shot."

Sephiroth hesitated in his handiwork, "You pulled it off pretty well. You'd make a great spy."

"Yeah right, playing drunken games isn't all the enemy does. I just got lucky."

"I'm surprised you didn't squirm," Sephiroth replied.

"Ditto to you."

Sephiroth pulled back from Genesis once he was finished but didn't give a response. He was avoiding the subject. "Director Lazard will award you for your survival skills and successful completion of this mission. I have to hand it to you, I wasn't expecting you to be the one to rescue me."

"Yeah, I didn't believe it either. I still don't. I'm pretty sure you saved yourself and I was just a witness."

Sephiroth gave a slight smile, "I wish I could claim that, but you deserve credit." The smile faded again. "We should get some sleep, we have a lot of traveling to do tomorrow."

Genesis obliged by lying down beside Sephiroth but he still had a lot going on in his head. "Sephiroth...what happened?"

Sephiroth shook his head gently at Genesis's concerned words. "I don't want to talk about it right now."

Genesis glanced at his companion's face and noticed the look in his eyes. He couldn't even imagine what pain he must have gone through. Would it ruin Sephiroth forever, or would he recover? "I'm…sorry."

"For what?"

"For everything. Again. I didn't save my squad, I ran from battle, I got you captured because you were coming after me—"

"That was my own fault. If I wasn't shouting out your name they wouldn't have found me. You can't take the blame for everything."

Genesis hesitantly turned to face him. "Yeah maybe…but it doesn't stop the feeling I get when I know something has gone wrong and I could have done something about it."

"There wasn't anything you could do, you were hurt," Sephiroth whispered. "Don't worry about it, it's over now."

The quiet night came back over them as Genesis tried to get some sleep, but he couldn't. His eyes went toward Sephiroth again and noticed he was wide awake as well. "What did I say to you the night before you left?"

Sephiroth at first wondered what he meant until the memory came back. He had forgotten about that. A smile cracked onto his bruised face and bloody lips, "You were drunk off of your ass when you came in to tell me you were going to miss me."

"What? Really?" Genesis said in a shocked manner. He thought Angeal was bluffing!

"Yes. You hugged me and said you would miss me and that you didn't want me to go."

"Wow, I'm a real softie, huh? Did I do anything else?"

"Well…you told me you were horny, if that makes it any better."

Genesis sat right up and snorted, "What? No way!"

Sephiroth rose up as well, planting his hands back to lean into a comfortable position. "Yes, you did, it was very disturbing."

"Give me details, man, what was I doing when I said that?"

"It was during the prolonged hug when you said that. Then I told you to go solve that problem in your room, and when you pulled back you said you loved me and you kissed the side of face before you stumbled out of my room. I think you really drank too much that night, was there a reason for that?"

Genesis shook his head. There _was_ a reason, and it was Sephiroth, but he wasn't going to say it. "No, I just didn't feel great that entire week. Man, I can't believe I said that stuff, I don't even remember that happening." He rubbed his head gently as if trying to massage the memory forth. "I can't believe I said I loved you. That's so awkward."

"I don't know, you seemed pretty relaxed when it happened. It was shocking for me, to say the least."

"Ha…yeah I bet." Genesis shook his head again before making a slight snort. "Oh man. Oh man!"

"What?"

"It makes it look like the body shot I took off of you seem like a whole lot more now."

Sephiroth smiled again, "You're right, it does. And that declaration that you wanted to fuck me?"

"Yeesh. My body is sending out some subliminal messages. I never knew it wanted you that badly. Here I thought it was just good acting."

Sephiroth chuckled slightly which made him actually start to laugh. When it died down he turned to look at Genesis, "You're amusing."

Genesis flashed a smile back at him. "I'm glad I could be of some service."

The thought of service made Sephiroth's muscles ache. "Maybe when we get back I could put you to better use?"

Genesis completely took that the wrong way. _Whoa, did Sephiroth just make a sexual joke toward me? That's hot._ "Why not right now? No one's looking."

Sephiroth shook his head, "I meant a massage, not that." He searched in his pockets for his brush. "Are you sure it's only your body that likes me? I'm getting the drift that your mind does as well."

_Massage? Oh yeah, totally didn't think of that. Man, my mind is pretty special. But if my body and mind likes him, what part of me doesn't?_ "I'm pretty sure I don't like you like that. Maybe it's a soul thing."

"Everything about you is gay but your spirit. That is…quite interesting," Sephiroth commented. "I'm not sure what I think about that."

"Yeah, that is weird now that I think about it. I wonder if it's just infecting me? Will my spirit be next?"

"Infecting you? It's not a disease."

"Have you ever seen someone come out of the closet before? It's usually very slow, subtle signs. Then it's full blown, but no one admits it. Finally after a long time of denial, there's just acceptance. Then they get really flamboyant and crazy, have sex all the time….kinda scary."

Sephiroth had never experienced that. "Sounds like you know quite a lot about those things."

"I've had some weird, mutual friends. Hey, if you ever need your spirits uplifted just talk to a homosexual. I get the greatest comments. I always forget what my problems were once I do that."

"I'll be sure to talk to you when I'm down, then," Sephiroth joked.

"Very funny," Genesis replied sarcastically. "But seriously. If you ever asked me to bang you I think I would."

"Why?"

"Because you're the Legendary Hero, man. If I could have children I'd definitely have your babies."

Sephiroth looked away, "You're weird."

"I am. Probably one of the few reasons why I joined your fan club."

Sephiroth glanced at him, "Because you're obsessed?"

"Because anything about you is interesting."

"You joined to figure out my favorite dessert I thought?"

"That too, but now I have updated evidence about you." Genesis pulled out his phone. "Well I did, until I broke my phone."

Sephiroth stared at the obliterated phone in Genesis's hands. He gently took it from him and inspected the damage. The screen was smashed, the plastic cover had popped off on one side and revealed the mechanics beneath, and the buttons were scraped so badly it was impossible to tell which number was where. "I've had my phone break before, but not like this." He moved to flip it close and the top came off. "Oh, sorry."

"Do you think I can get it replaced for free?" As if Genesis wanted it coming out of his salary.

"Just say you were busy saving me to care about electronics. Lives are more important than technology. Lazard will eat that up and hand you another one without questioning your motives."

"Seriously? Awesome."

"Lazard can be a push over if you say the right things. He's figured me out, though, so he stopped doing favors for me," Sephiroth sighed. "I used to go in and bug him about missions and told him which ones would be best for me. Usually the missions assigned to people are at random, only emphasizing slightly on your test results. We try to even everyone out so that they're good in all areas, but we also push toward perfecting something someone is good at. I enjoyed the bloodier missions because the thrill of killing was the most exciting thing I'd experience in a day. I hated stealth missions because I'm too tall to really hide anywhere, I got bored with guarding or defending, and I completely opposed any missions that required contact with civilians. I don't like being in groups, I'm more of a solo actor. Of course, Lazard knew that and sometimes he'd purposefully put me in group missions to 'strengthen my weaknesses.' But you see, I ended up going off on my own anyway in those missions and no one bothered to tag along because they knew I could work by myself. So technically, Lazard's planning always failed to change me."

Genesis listened intently at Sephiroth's explanation. It was one of those rare occasions where Sephiroth got to talking and didn't stop. He enjoyed it, like waiting for a child's first words and then feeling enthralled each time they came forth. "Did he ever notice?"

"I don't think so. In group missions everyone is supposed to analyze each other. We give constructive criticism and praise each other so that we can get on with our lives. Telling too much of the truth would only cause unnecessary meetings. No one wants to bother with doing that, and none of us want to put another person through that because what you do to one person can happen to you as well. A terrible chain reaction. Happened to me a few times, actually."

"Really?"

Sephiroth nodded. "I had written someone up on lack of control but had said their enthusiasm for the mission had helped. I guess Lazard took it the wrong way and made the person go into a new training session. He found out it was me and got a group of his friends to write me up for my lack of communication and my moodiness had deterred the mission we were on. So I had to be put into this bogus meeting on 'teamwork' and 'better communication skills' so that I could be a 'team player.' Then Lazard wanted me to go at least once or twice a month to the counselor to talk about my feelings so that my mood would be better. I went once just to humor him, but meeting up with the counselor was utterly wasteful of my time."

"Oh?"

"It was some crazy woman who thought all of my problems had to link to either my parents or my sexual history."

Genesis laughed, "All right, she sounds pretty special."

"A three hour session of her trying to get me to reveal my life to her ended up being me dodging her questions as best as I could. I didn't want her to know anything about me."

"Yeah, having a stranger hear your life story could be pretty intimidating, you don't know what she'll do with that information."

"Precisely. After that one meeting I told Lazard I had enough counseling to fill his quota for the rest of the year."

"What'd he say?"

Sephiroth smirked, "He laughed at me. Lazard wanted me to keep going, but instead of doing that I just talked to him instead."

"You just unloaded on him?"

"Essentially, yes. He's always in his office working, but he likes to talk. He goes over a lot of the media issues, especially when it involves Shinra Company. I remember once he read me an entire article about what the world thinks of me."

"Was it any good?"

"It was…something else. Someone had written in saying they had been vacationing in Costa del Sol at the same time I was and would spend their time watching me in hopes that the water would take my swim trunks off."

Genesis busted out laughing, "Seriously? I can't believe someone would write that!"

"I'm surprised anyone would waste their time hoping for something like that."

"You're handsome, but I do have to admit I wouldn't just sit and watch. I'd make it happen."

"People like you are the reason why I don't like going out in public. Someone always wants to touch you and you know it's not going to be a good thing. I've only had one instance where someone had actually approached me in the intent of ripping my clothes off of me."

"What'd you do?"

"I just pushed them back and he was taken away by infantrymen."

"Oh. When did that happen?"

"It was before I was promoted to 1st class. People knew me pretty well because I'm not like all the other operatives. It was in a parade Shinra does sometimes, and operatives are supposed to volunteer to march along. I was forced to because Lazard said I needed to charm the public."

"Well at least you weren't hurt."

"No, just unnecessarily violated before everyone in Midgar."

Genesis smirked and then started to laugh uncontrollably. _And to think I wanted to quit. To leave this guy, Sephiroth, a close friend behind. To think I could walk away and not feel a thing! I'm a fool._

"What are you laughing at?" Sephiroth growled, though his tone was still friendly.

"Oh…just how much of an idiot I am." Genesis leaned back and stared up at the cave ceiling above him. "Laughing…because I thought I could live the way I used to, just drop this and go, and now I realize I can't."

Sephiroth got down himself and glanced over at him. "Why not?"

"Because…no one can match up to you…to Angeal…to these missions and these beautiful nights." Genesis closed his eyes. "I'm not letting go."

Sephiroth watched over Genesis carefully before looking up at the ceiling himself. Such a wild dream, such passion for what he was doing. The attachment he had…to think that he was a part of it seemed unreal. But it felt…good. To know that someone wanted to stay in a dangerous job because of him…touched him.

He closed his eyes as well, and wished that he had such attachments as well…

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So yeah. Hope you enjoyed this one. Basically I had written this directly after putting up the last chapter and tried to get myself to focus on studying, but I couldn't pull away from writing this chapter. It was really addicting. It does kind of go by quickly, at least it felt like it did to me, but it's not like I'm skipping over anything.

I really hope you guys enjoyed this chapter as well, and hopefully I'll update sometime soon again. I know you peeps really enjoy this stuff. Please review, I love comments and hearing from all of you, it helps fuel me to write more!

Until next time!


	5. Chapter 5

Here's another chapter for you guys. Hope you enjoy! There's a surprise in this one!

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Sephiroth was the first to wake up from their comatose-like slumber, the sun had just peaked up from the horizon and he could feel the cold mountain begin to gain some heat. It was unbearably cold on these rocks, and he could only imagine it'd continue to get colder. They'd have to keep moving, somehow backtracking to wherever Genesis was picked up. Did the boy remember? He couldn't imagine he did. With a hard shake he woke Genesis up. "We need to start moving soon."

Gently Genesis pulled from is tightly knit position and stared at the blazing sun that rose before them. He glared at Sephiroth, "It's not morning yet."

"It is, too. Show me how much food you have left."

Genesis grumbled and pulled the bag closer for them to examine its contents. There was some rice left and oatmeal. "That's about it…the rest is water."

Sephiroth wasn't surprised that their provisions were at such a minimum. They had lost time and Genesis had been wounded and lost. They'd have to make do with what they had left. "Well, water is important, as long as we have plenty of it we can survive the rest of the trip out of here. Do you remember much about your landing point?"

Genesis thought back. It felt like forever since he got here when it really hadn't been that long ago. "It's a bit more grassy on the hills, and then we'll see a dirt trail leading up to here I imagine. We walked from the truck to here just because it got a bit too rocky, but I think the path should be distinguishable when we get closer." At least Genesis hoped it would, he didn't want to keep traveling on the rocky terrain more than they had to.

Sephiroth started to make breakfast using as little food as he could. He worked rather quickly and efficiently, much to Genesis's surprise, and when it was finished they ate in silence. There wasn't much else to talk about aside from getting back and they had already gone over enough of that. Genesis wasn't completely desperate for conversation, but he wanted to get the cold off of his mind. "Do you think it's going to warm up?" Genesis pulled his arms close to himself, using the layered Wutai clothing on him to encase his body heat as best as he could.

Sephiroth noticed the goosebumps riding up Genesis's arms and his hunched position. "Yes, it definitely should. You know, if you're cold you should do squats, they raise your body temperature."

"Is that why we practice doing them so much in training?"

"It also helps leg strength."

"Sounds like a bunch of bullshit to me."

"You should try it at least."

"No, fuck you."

What kind of language was that? Sephiroth hadn't expected Genesis to act so snappy about squats. "What? I'm giving a helpful suggestion."

"I don't want to look like a dumbass," Genesis argued.

"No one's looking."

"You're looking."

"Heavens, I'm such the judgmental person. You're right, don't do it in front of me I might tell someone else," Sephiroth shot back sarcastically.

"Shut up, I'm still not going to do it."

"Okay then, I guess you'll just stay cold." Sephiroth finished his small amount of food relatively quickly. The argument was pointless and he didn't want to bother going on with it. If Genesis wanted to act that way then he could, he wasn't going to let it get under his skin.

The redhead waited awhile as Sephiroth cleaned up everything and packed it away. He really wanted to catch Sephiroth off guard. He knew Sephiroth probably thought he wanted to continue arguing, but he had a joke in mind instead. "You know what else warms people up?" He had timed it when Sephiroth went to take a drink. "Sex."

Sephiroth brought his small cup back down but did not spew his drink. His liquid green eyes stared back at Genesis for awhile before he finished swallowing. "Yes, I can imagine it does," was his response.

"It's just like killing people, really. You hunt someone down, corner them, make them scream a lot, and enjoy the after sensation."

Sephiroth finished off his drink and put the cup away. "One is messier than the other."

"You can make them both messy or not, depending on how you do it."

Sephiroth rose up and pushed the pack into Genesis's arms. "Let's get going." He had deflected the subject easily, slightly annoyed that Genesis was always coming up with the worst conversations.

"You know, we should have stolen you a shirt. I can't imagine you're warm," Genesis remarked. The 1st class's coat had been torn from him the minute he had been captured, and by now he was just covered in bruises. His pants were tattered and destroyed, but they still gave him some cover from the chilling breath of the mountains.

"I'm fine." Sephiroth looked at Genesis. "You're still wearing Wutai garb, you know."

"The whole massacre back there kind of made me want to get out instead of change clothes."

"No surprise. Just be careful, if the others see you wearing that they might assume you're the enemy."

"I'll walk behind you so the bullets have a better target. Or we could hold hands and run toward our saviors like lost little school girls." He had a big smile on his face at the comment. He waited to see how Sephiroth would react.

"Your imagination frightens me, Genesis."

Genesis shrugged, "Hey, at least you don't have to live with it."

"Thankfully, but unfortunately I must deal with it until we're back at Headquarters."

Genesis chuckled before nudging Sephiroth, "You like it and you know it."

"Like what? Your thoughts? Not so much, they're all about me."

"I can't help it that you turn me on," Genesis joked. Probably not the greatest thing to say to Sephiroth, but he imagined he had already said and done worst to him.

"I noticed."

"Noticed?" Genesis couldn't imagine what he noticed. "How?"

"How do you think?" Sephiroth quipped back.

"As sexy as you are, I haven't had a hard on ever since I started this mission. But hey, maybe you think something's happening because I'm packing a lot?"

"Packing? I'd say more like padding."

"Ooh, ouch." Genesis shook his head at the burn. To think that Sephiroth could say such things about him…actually brought his spirits up. If Sephiroth was joking around that meant they were friends, right? "Say what you want, you don't know until you've handled it."

"I'm sure sooner or later you'll whip it out because you can't contain yourself." Sephiroth moved toward the edge of a small dip and easily jumped down from rock to rock.

"It's okay, you'll really find me attractive by then that you'll help me pull it out." Genesis mimicked the hopping but lost his footing on the last one. He flung forward and smacked into Sephiroth, causing them both to slam into the ground.

"You moron," Sephiroth sniped at him.

Genesis rose up neatly and brushed himself off, "Sorry, my legs aren't as long as yours."

Sephiroth got up as well and stared at the new scrape he just got. He grumbled a bit and then kept going onward, ignoring Genesis as the man strode quickly to keep up with him.

"You know, while we're walking we should play a game."

Sephiroth let out an exasperated sigh, "Dare I ask what?"

"Let's ask each other questions."

"That sounds like a dumb game."

"It passes the time. You can start."

Sephiroth kept walking in silence for awhile, gracefully going over jagged rocks and trying his best not to stumble like his clumsy companion. "What kind of questions?"

"Anything. Whatever you feel like asking."

There was silence again as Sephiroth contemplated what he wanted to know about Genesis. Nothing, really. The man was bound to tell him everything whether he asked or not. "Ohh…let's see…What's your…" He was not good at this. "Favorite…" his eyes went to Genesis, "Your favorite…" Damn. "Color."

Genesis started to laugh, "Took you long enough to ask."

"I've never been curious to ask anyone anything, it's hard to start now."

"I'm sure you'll get better once the game goes on. My favorite color is either between emerald green and crimson red."

"Oh. Why's that?"

Genesis glanced at him, "It's my turn to ask a question, but if you're dying to know those two colors remind me of my family, and spending the holidays with them. Now let's see… What do you enjoy doing in your spare time?"

"Reading."

Genesis let a smirk play across his face at Sephiroth's blunt answer. "That's all?"

"Yes. Reading, sleeping, and eating are the only things I do outside of missions. I hardly ever need to train because I'm always in one. But I don't mind getting up early to exercise on occasion."

"I see. Your turn."

Sephiroth had to think of another question. He really wasn't all that good at this. Maybe he should just go for something typical or random? "What do you like the most about yourself?"

"Ooh, good question." Genesis bounced off a rock and landed on another, sliding downhill to the bottom. His eyes went up to Sephiroth and watched him take his own bountiful leaps. "I think my voice. I'd be a great singer I bet."

Sephiroth wasn't sure if he could agree with that. Genesis's voice was definitely unique, but was it good for singing? He wasn't sure. "I wouldn't be able to judge, I don't listen to music."

He wasn't waiting for Sephiroth's approval, he had a feeling the man would say something like that. "How's about you? What do you like about yourself?"

"Everything."

"Really? Don't have one feature that's more attractive to you than others?"

"I like everything equally."

"Man. You're so weird," Genesis remarked. Yet it seemed so typical of Sephiroth to be like that. If the man didn't like anything about anyone and found them all equal, of course he'd find everything about himself completely satisfying.

"What's one thing you miss right now?" The question came from nowhere, but Sephiroth believed it was a good one.

_What do I miss right now? There's so many things, I don't think it's possible to list them all off. I mean it; my home, the food, my bed, the Banora trees…. Angeal. God I miss him._ "Angeal."

"You two must be really close I imagine," Sephiroth assumed.

"Yeah, we're pretty inseparable until we got here. But I think that's part of growing up. Breaking apart a bit and then coming back together." Genesis didn't want to make a big deal about it, the more he thought of Angeal the more depressed he could imagine himself being. The last thing he wanted was Sephiroth to think he was a crybaby because he didn't have his best friend here for him. "If you could do anything right now, what would you do and why?"

"Get off this mountain because it's a pain in my side," Sephiroth answered quickly. He really didn't know what else he'd do and he didn't want to bother thinking about it.

"Haha, seriously? Nothing deeply emotional?"

"Like what?"

"I don't know…" Genesis did know, and he'd use it for his next question. "Your turn anyway."

"Hmm…what's your favorite kind of dessert?"

"Apple pie. If you could go back in time, any time—it doesn't matter if you were born yet or not—where would you go and why?"

Sephiroth didn't know what to say. There were a lot of things he'd like to go back and see. Perhaps his parents? But why would he bring that up to Genesis? He felt like it was too personal, but he didn't want to say something that Genesis would obviously figure out as a lie. "I'm not sure if I can answer that."

Genesis turned his eyes to Sephiroth. _I hit something. I started up this game in hopes of getting to know him better, but so far it hasn't been working until now. I just have to find a way to ease information out from him. He's bound to want to talk, but he's not sure if he can trust me. I need to be careful, be considerate. But how? I don't want to scare him away by sounding too eager._ "Are you just not sure what you'd pick specifically or is it just something you don't want to talk about?"

Sephiroth avoided looking at Genesis. Was Genesis purposefully trying to get him to say something about his past? He had warned him to leave his past alone… "What makes you think I don't want to talk about it? Are you assuming it's something bad?"

_Oh damn, he's getting defensive._ "What? No, I just thought I could help if it was the first one, and if you didn't want to talk about it then I would have just dropped the subject."

"Was it because you knew I was going to pick something that I wouldn't want to talk about?"

_Oh god, he's got me figured out. I'm terrible at hiding my curiosity. I wish I could lie better._ "No, but the way you answered the question just made me think it was probably personal so you didn't want to say anything. I don't care, you did say before that you don't like talking about yourself."

"Why did you ask me to play such a game if you didn't want to know something? You're asking questions, clearly you're looking for some kind of answer."

_I really must have struck a nerve. Damn. How did I do that? I can't find a way to defend myself! Maybe I should just tell him he's right? That way he can bitch me out without cornering me about it._ "Yeah. I'm curious about you. I'd like to get to know you better. It was the only way I could think of even getting you to speak up much about anything. But I don't want to step over your boundaries, so if I did then I'm sorry."

Sephiroth noticed Genesis's defeat as a personal victory for himself, but the way he went about doing it made him feel guilty. Genesis hadn't been able to stick around anyone at all during the missions and he was lost in Shinra without Angeal. He was only trying to broaden his friend group with the only way he knew how… "Do you think it's possible to miss something you've never seen before?"

Genesis wondered if the game was still going on. He thought he tarnished it as soon as Sephiroth got upset, but the look on his face seemed contemplative instead of irritated. "Yeah, I think it's possible. You hear about animals going extinct and such. I mean, when I hear about those things I feel like someone just stole something from me. It really hits me hard. You'll never get to see it in action, only out on display in a museum. I think it's a real bummer." Genesis noticed Sephiroth didn't respond. "Why?"

"It's been bugging me for a really long time. I've never asked anyone because I thought it was a stupid question."

"It doesn't seem that stupid to me. A lot of people would say no, but that's because they aren't thinking about it."

"I suppose you're right. I just needed to ask the right person."

Genesis smirked, "Well, what can I say? I'm right for everything!" He then placed his foot on a loose rock and went tumbling down the sloped pathway they were on. When he reached the bottom he scrambled to stand up and noticed the scrapes he had acquired. "Ouch, damn, that sucks."

Sephiroth was halfway down the slope trying to make it to Genesis while he laughed at the redhead. When he arrived beside him he calmed down a bit, though the smile was still on his face. "You're right. You make for a good laugh."

Genesis glared but decided not to bitch at him about it. Friends were allowed to laugh at each other after doing dumb shit, right? Right. His shoulder, although, felt like it was on fire. He rubbed it and winced at the striking pain, "Ugh, I really fucked something up doing that."

"Probably that bullet wound you have."

"Oh yeah," Genesis muttered, "I forgot about that."

"How could you forget? It's a bullet lodged into your scapula."

"I hope to the Goddess it isn't in that far."

"Don't worry, as long as you don't start bleeding I think you'll be fine."

"Kind of hard not to when we're on this fucking downhill slope." It was probably bleeding now and he'd be dead in ten minutes.

"Well you can't go up to get off a hill."

Genesis punched Sephiroth for his sarcasm, but only ended up cracking his knuckles against Sephiroth's hip. "Ouch."

"You have yourself to blame for that."

"Better watch yourself or I'll throw you down one of these slopes."

"That isn't very nice, considering you're supposed to be my rescuer."

"I like to rough up my women before I sleep with them," Genesis cockily remarked. "I bet you get turned on when you're hurt. Am I right?"

Sephiroth shook his head, "No." Here he went again, the sexual comments. Did he ever shut up about it?

"You sure? You seem like the type who'd enjoy bondage."

"Oh God," Sephiroth murmured and stared at Genesis. "You can't be serious."

"What?"

"Bondage? Really?"

Genesis started to laugh. "You don't like to be tied up and hurt?"

"It was practically what I just experienced back there and I never want to revisit that kind of feeling ever again."

Though Genesis wanted to laugh he knew that Sephiroth had been pretty roughed up. The bruises were still all over him and turning darker each day. Plus, drunks seemed to like to handle him, Genesis couldn't imagine what else they did aside from body shots on Sephiroth. "Must have been pretty traumatic. I'm not sure if I'd be able to handle much of anything."

"I can stand being beaten, but if I had to stay in there another day with what they were doing…I don't think I would be able to stand it. I'd crack."

Genesis felt really curious now. "I know you didn't want to talk about it, but you're really making me wonder what happened."

Sephiroth tried to think of what to say. All of it was pretty bad. As much as he didn't want to give details, he felt like telling Genesis a few things couldn't be too bad. "They kept my face covered for most of it, but I could still hear and feel what they were doing. For one night they threw dog food all over me, which was rather harmless. I did get bitten but it could have been worse."

Genesis frowned, "Please tell me they cleaned that up before the body shots." He didn't want to think about licking up where a dog's mouth had just been…

"I was hosed down twice, but not thoroughly washed."

Genesis shuddered. He wanted to rinse his mouth now. "Great."

"Two people had sex on top of me." Sephiroth had said it nonchalantly, though once it was out he could already feel the regret of even speaking up.

Genesis's horrid look confirmed Sephiroth's regret. "You're not serious…"

Sephiroth gravely nodded, "Yes. I was hosed down after that because they left….well…I don't want to get into that." He wished he could bathe…

Genesis shuddered, "Oh god. That's gross. Damn." Now his mouth had been where someone else's jizz was at. Nasty.

"Right. The next night it happened again, but they put me in the middle. Nothing happened to me, but it was…not pleasant." The sickening feeling started to come back over Sephiroth, that shocked state the body went into when it was exposed to too many unpleasant problems. His throat clamped up a bit, remembering the gasps coming against him, the tightening of their muscles against his front and back. And the wandering hands that groped him all over, along with their hungry mouths…

Genesis could definitely imagine that'd be really awkward for someone like Sephiroth. Poor guy…

"I think the two that had sex were the same both times. I thought you were one of them when you did the body shot. And once you said you wanted to have sex with me…I wasn't sure how I'd handle that. I thought that having my face covered would help, and when you lifted it I didn't know what I'd do. I…was really close to begging." He had heard and read a lot about rape victims and their tattered mentality, how it shattered their abilities and often times they never recovered. If that had happened to him…what would Shinra's Company do? He couldn't imagine any counseling being effective or helpful, and it wasn't like he'd be able to try and forget and continue onward with his missions…

Genesis nodded slowly. He could tell the subject wasn't something that Sephiroth was comfortable with. The 1st class SOLDIER looked timid at the subject, especially how he refused to look at Genesis. "But…don't you think that they'd like that? If you begged they'd find your weakness, then they might have…repeated the torture over and over."

"It's possible…but under the condition I was in…I don't think I would have been able to lie there and not react to it."

"Right…and I can't imagine they'd be really nice about it, either."

Sephiroth shook his head before checking his phone and his eyes went back to Genesis, "The worst person was the one who…asked for a volunteer…he set up the alcohol for you."

"What was bad about him?"

"Well…his nickname was Snaggletooth and he had a biting fetish."

"Oh damn." Genesis waited for more information and saw the hesitation in Sephiroth again. "Where…at?"

"Up and down my legs…one here on my side," Sephiroth pointed at the mark, "Another right here on my arm," he lifted his arm up to show the underside of his bicep, the teeth marks could be seen prominently. "When he was done his mouth was covered in blood. He made sure that I saw it. And after that they threw salt all over me." He preferred the salt than that man's mouth. Even as he walked with Genesis he could remember the way his tongue slid around the bite marks and lapped up the blood, exchanging a grimy, yellow-toothed smirk to him. It was disgusting and shook Sephiroth to the core.

"That's…terrible."

"And those were only a few of the things they did." Sephiroth shook his head, "I'd rather forget about it."

"Yeah, we don't need to go in depth." Genesis felt bad that he even made Sephiroth talk about it. Maybe the man could forget about it now that he got some of it off his chest? He doubted that, but he could still hope it'd ease up something… "So what do you think will happen when we get back home?"

Sephiroth shook his head, "Nothing, really. We'll be fixed up and allowed to heal, then it's off to another mission."

"Oh…" Genesis fiddled with the shirt he was wearing. "They should really give you a bigger break…"

"You just want to spend time with me," Sephiroth replied coolly.

"Yeah, I do. But I also think it'd be helpful for you to take it easy, especially after what's happened."

"I'll be fine."

"So? The longer your break….the more massages you get."

Sephiroth turned his eyes onto Genesis. Tempting, very tempting, but telling Lazard that would only make the man laugh and tell him to get over it. No one wanted to see Sephiroth be overly pampered… "Try telling Lazard that and see if he agrees."

"He'd probably think I'm crazy."

"That's okay, I think you're crazy, too."

"Thanks," Genesis murmured. They went for an hour rather silently. Both were exhausted still and growing hungrier with each minute that passed by. As another hour soon passed Genesis grabbed around Sephiroth's waist for support. "My legs are killing me."

"My entire body feels the same."

"Can we rest?"

"I don't know, can we?"

Genesis realized what he had said and glared, "May we?"

"I suppose."

Genesis and Sephiroth sat down within a crook of a boulder for shelter. Both stretched their sore limbs and tried to relax against the rocky terrain. For fifteen minutes they didn't say anything, only watched the luminous blue sky above them. The billowing clouds looked animated and full as they passed over lazily. "I think this is my favorite part of this trip so far."

"What?" Sephiroth asked as his eyes kept checking around for anyone. He was more cautious than Genesis. During the entire trip he had kept his attention more on his surroundings than Genesis.

"This. The sky. It's beautiful. It reminds me of literature and how a story can make you appreciate nature. And I love reading, especially poems."

Sephiroth brought his eyes from the rocks up to the clouds before returning them to their surroundings. "What do you mean?"

"Literature describes the beauty of everything, it makes you ponder about what it feels like, tastes like, looks like…just everything. It's sensual, it hits you and sticks with you, and you feel it the most when you read about nature. One of the reasons why I like the outdoors. It tells you a story wherever you're at."

Sephiroth was hesitant in responding to him as his words weren't going to be very supportive toward Genesis's ideals. "You do realize that thinking like that will deter your drive as a SOLDIER, correct?"

"How so?"

"Well, I'm assuming you appreciate life and feel like taking it away is unnecessary."

"I do feel that way."

"Then the point is, if you keep thinking like that you'll never reach your full potential as a SOLDIER. Your goal was to reach 1st class, right? But you can't do that if you hesitate all the time."

"You don't think about what you do?"

"I stopped a long time ago. The enemy has stopped thinking way before us. We must adapt to that. They aren't willing to make friends and you shouldn't either. Kill anything that's in your path quickly and with precision. Then you'll be praised, and with that praise you reach your goals."

Genesis let his eyes loom back to the clouds above him. _I never really realized that's how he thought. I assumed Sephiroth was good at pushing attachments away, but not in this sense. A human being is still a living creature and killing it is just as depressing as massacring animals. But is that the only way to get to 1__st__ class? I don't think it is…at least, I hope it isn't. I'm not sure if I could change like that._ "I think you're wrong. For every action we take there will be a reaction, a backlash, something that will make us ponder what we've been doing and why we're doing it this way. I know my job is to kill, but it doesn't mean I don't feel regret for acting in such ways. I follow orders, and will continue to follow orders, but I'm allowed to think what I want. I might not say it out loud because I don't want to sound traitorous but I still have my morals. It's what makes us all human, because we know what's right and wrong and we can decide which side we stand on. If you give up morals you give up your humanity."

Sephiroth's green eyes loomed over at Genesis wondering what that meant for him. "If we're not human anymore, what are we?"

"Monsters."

Sephiroth was surprised at the response. "Monsters?"

"Yes. We're not like beasts. We're something worse."

"I could get used to the title," Sephiroth admitted.

Genesis whipped his attention over to Sephiroth. "How could you get used to something like that?" He sounded quiet, almost scared at the thought.

"I've been killing people for a long time, Genesis, it doesn't affect me anymore."

"Yeah…I guess." He turned away to focus on something better.

When the silence fell between them Sephiroth knew it was because of his acceptance of the title. Genesis didn't want him to be a monster, did he? But what was he supposed to do about that? He couldn't change, not now or ever. He was a killing machine through and through. There wasn't anything else about him, nothing loving or cherishing, he wasn't raised like that. Why couldn't Genesis see that? Maybe it's because…he refused to talk about it. His eyes focused on Genesis's posture for awhile wondering what to even say to him. He didn't want to reveal any secrets, but… "If…I could go back in time I'd go back and see my parents." He kept his eyes diverted from the redhead, staring out at the distant world before them.

Genesis had turned his head slowly to look at his companion. _I thought…he didn't want to talk about that. But…maybe he's trying to say something? That deep down he's not much of a monster?_ There was silence again. Genesis summoned up some courage to continue with the conversation. "Do you care about what time you see them? Like…just a normal day for them or…"

"I'd want to see why they decided to give me up." Sephiroth lowered his eyes to the pebbles and rocks before him. "I want to know what drives them to have a kid and then decide not to keep it."

_He must feel really abandoned, like they decided he wasn't worth their time. That's really harsh…_ "Some people have kids before they're ready and then realize they are unable to take care of them."

"Some people…" Sephiroth muttered. "But not everyone."

"Yeah…but you don't really think they did this on purpose, do you?"

"I don't see why not."

"Sephiroth—"

"Shinra's Company isn't a baby sitting center. They wouldn't have picked me up out of nowhere and thought it was a good idea to take in an orphan. It had to have been arranged. There's no way around it. I've thought about it a lot and all the other possibilities don't match up like this one does."

Genesis felt so guilty, like he had been the one that threw out Sephiroth as a child rather than the man's parents. "I…guess I just don't want to hear you say things like that…"

"You don't want to hear the truth?"

"I don't want to hear that you're hurt."

"I'm not," Sephiroth remarked. "You're assuming I'm upset."

"Yeah, because it makes me upset. I don't want to think that it's possible that you feel abandoned or not good enough or…anything negative. I think the same way for Angeal as well. I just don't want to sit back and let anyone feel bad."

He shouldn't be surprised, but Sephiroth was definitely uplifted by Genesis's words. No one was ever this emotional _for_ him and _about_ him before. Genesis probably regarded him as a friend, and for once Sephiroth wasn't annoyed by that. If friends tried to take any pain away…it couldn't be all that bad. "I stopped feeling bad about it a long time ago. There's no point in getting upset over what happened. No one knows the real details and I doubt anyone ever will. We can think what we want but it changes nothing. It's happened. That's that. We move on. Everyone has to."

Genesis glanced at Sephiroth and noticed his peaceful look. As long as he knew for sure that Sephiroth wasn't pining over the loss of his parents he did feel better about the subject. "Right. I guess I just panicked."

Sephiroth would have replied but he heard something. He grabbed Genesis's arm and glanced around silently before shaking Genesis, "You hear that?"

Genesis did hear it but he had no idea what it was. "Yeah kind of…"

"I think it's…a car." Sephiroth listened again before shaking his head, "No, it's something else…"

Genesis moved forward and searched the area before checking out the landscape before them. The skies and ground were blank before them. "What is it? Where is it?"

Sephiroth covered Genesis's mouth to shut him up and closed his eyes. After awhile he pointed, "It's below us."

Genesis put his head to the ground. "What's it doing down there?"

Sephiroth listened as well until the noise just stopped. They both looked at each other before Sephiroth grabbed Genesis's arm and pulled him from their safe spot. "Follow me! I don't think we're safe—" The ground exploded around them and they lost their footing. They tumbled with the rest of the rockslide before Sephiroth regained himself and snatched Genesis from falling off a cliff. A boulder was chasing right after them and Sephiroth leapt. It was a terrifying experience for Genesis as he had never gone this high up into the air just from jumping. He didn't think it was possible…

Something came blasting forth from the mountains and Genesis panicked as it began to send forth missiles at them. What he assumed was going to be his death ended up in probably the greatest firework show ever. Sephiroth's magic collided quickly with the missiles and the enemy below. A powerful heat wave instantly hit them and Genesis felt himself start to sweat until he noticed where they were heading. They were no longer going to land safely on a crevice of the mountain, but descend rapidly to their deaths of the flatlands below. His adrenaline kicked in and he clawed Sephiroth thinking their deaths would be absolutely bloody.

Yet Sephiroth's landing seemed rather graceful. They skidded backward for a good 15 feet, but Sephiroth was seemingly unhurt. Genesis touched the ground shakily and sat down. He needed to get his bearings about him. Back at the mountain the clouds of dust started to ascend into the sky but there was no movement to come after them. "I don't remember Wutai having machinery like that. I think they must have captured a shipment of Shinra's…" Sephiroth brushed himself off. "But where and when? I should give Lazard an update on that…"

"We've been traveling on that fucking mountain this entire time and you decide now, of all times, to fucking jump off of it like that? What the hell?? I didn't know you could do that! We could have been on safe grounds this morning! You know what? This whole mission is just…fucking stupid! You could have probably leapt over the god damn mountain and been on this side for us to pick you up, why the hell did you need an escort? This was a total waste of time and energy! I can't believe—"

Sephiroth watched Genesis freak out about everything. He wasn't expecting that from Genesis at all. Did he usually throw tantrums like this? What should he do? "The adrenaline rush helped me do it, I can't constantly jump like that. It's also safer to travel by foot, if anyone saw us in the sky they could have easily shot us to death. And I didn't even think that'd work that well, it's the first time I jumped off of a mountain."

"WHAT?" Genesis yelled. "You could have had us both killed! You're fucking crazy!"

"You need to calm down," Sephiroth remarked gently. "We're not safe anymore."

"What? Fuck you. Just…fuck you."

"Genesis, we're out in the open. If anyone comes up on the mountains and sees us they'll shoot us. We had to use the hills for shelter until our ride got here. Now we're vulnerable until then."

"Yeah, whatever. When are they getting here?"

"I don't know, how long did it take you to get here?"

"A few days."

"Then it'll be a few days."

"Are you serious? Oh my god…." Genesis grabbed his hair in a stressful manner. "We're fucked."

Sephiroth looked over at Genesis and noticed something. "Oh."

Genesis's frown increased, "Oh?" What did he mean by that?

"The pack."

Genesis noticed Sephiroth didn't have it and he clearly didn't either. He had taken it off when they sat down. Since Sephiroth had yanked him up so hard… His eyes went toward the mountain. "Oh God. Oh God!"

"It's okay, we'll be fine."

Genesis turned his sharp blue eyes onto Sephiroth, "Don't even give me that pep talk! We're going to die!"

"We're not going to die," Sephiroth replied softly.

"We're so dead! We're just…walking corpses or something!"

"Genesis, it's just a few days—"

"Without food, shelter, or water? We're fucked!"

"If you keep acting like that then yes, we will be."

"This is all your fault," Genesis grumbled. "If you didn't need a stupid escort I could be back at Headquarters training or something."

"You'd be sent to battle, Genesis, and you'd die there because you have no control over yourself," Sephiroth snapped at him.

Genesis wanted to fight him but knew Sephiroth was too powerful, even if he was wounded. "I just want to be out of this place!"

"Panicking and screaming isn't going to change it."

Genesis sighed and covered his face. "I wish Angeal was here."

Sephiroth didn't want to deal with this, but leaving someone like Genesis in this high of a stress level would only cause problems for later on in his career. He'd have to fix it as best as he could. "Genesis." He got the redhead to face him. "You'll see Angeal soon…it'll only be a few days, okay? You're not going to die. I won't let that happen. We can get through this, you've been put through much worse. Now, let's find a spot to continue resting, I can tell you're worn out."

Genesis had calmed down, but now he felt really glum. Starving to death for a few days didn't sound appealing to him… "Okay," he mumbled instead of fighting Sephiroth about it. They continued onward for awhile until they found a small sheltered area to sit down. Once Genesis slid to the ground he felt the exhaustion hit and he quickly passed out.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

_I hate those dreams where you do something really sexually pleasing with someone and when you wake up they're right there next to you. That's what I'm feeling right now. I'm not sure why I had this dream because I've never had one like this about a guy before, and it definitely was surprising at how great it was. But now I just feel awkward. I hope I don't talk in my sleep…that'd be worse. Oh god, what if I did say something? Did Sephiroth hear me? What if I moaned? Oh shit!_ Genesis glanced at Sephiroth slowly and noticed the man had his eyes closed but was sitting up, as if keeping a lookout even while sleeping. _Well, if he's been sleeping he wouldn't have heard anything I imagine. Though seeing him like this makes me want to bother him. Or maybe do something subtle and pretend I'm still asleep? Aha. Fake talking in my sleep!_ Genesis jerked his hand and let it smack into Sephiroth's thigh causing Sephiroth to open his eyes immediately. When he saw that it was only Genesis moving he calmed down considerably until he heard Genesis let out a slight moan. At first Sephiroth was going to assume the guy was running in his sleep or something when he thought he heard something else. He came forth to hear what he was saying.

"Mm…Sephiroth…"

Sephiroth's eyebrow twitched. Genesis was dreaming about him?

"Mm…yeah…"

Sephiroth kept watching intently. What were they doing in his mind?

"Harder….harder…"

Sephiroth's curious look turned into a disgusted frown. "Seriously?"

"Yes, seriously," Genesis whispered. Sephiroth jumped when Genesis replied, his hair rose on end as Genesis opened his eyes to look at him. The redhead started to laugh and snort, "You should have seen your expression!"

Sephiroth retracted and looked away, "You're the one dreaming up about having sex with me."

"I was faking it."

"I'm sure you were." Sephiroth was highly upset about the ordeal and rather put off. Did Genesis always act like this around Angeal? He couldn't imagine anyone getting along with the redhead for that long if all he ever did was talk about sex…and dream about it as well.

"You're just pissy that I caught you off guard." Genesis sat up and stretched. "God I'm hungry."

"Don't talk about food, it'll make it worse."

"You know what usually helps? Making out."

Sephiroth shook his head, "I should have known you'd say that. You really are gay."

"Only when I know that my life is ending in a few days." Genesis looked around and shuddered, "Shit, it's cold."

"That happens when it gets late." Sephiroth sounded irritated that Genesis was bringing up every subject that he didn't want to talk about. Thinking of food made people hungry. Talking about the weather made people feel bothered about it. And anything sexually was clearly a no-no on his list.

Genesis moved in beside Sephiroth and put his arm around the man's waist. "Guess what that means?"

"You're…touching me?" Sephiroth remarked tensely.

"It means we get to huddle together tonight and die when we turn into frozen popsicles." Genesis didn't remove his arm even after Sephiroth's comment.

"We won't die…" Sephiroth argued. Would he ever let up about that?

"Well…yeah that's right, we won't if we have sex together." Genesis threw his leg over him and was straddling Sephiroth, keeping his hands tightly on Sephiroth's biceps. "How do you like it?" He saw the look on Sephiroth's face. _Hmm…reminds me of the time I set his pants on fire. Maybe he doesn't get the joke?_ "I'm not being serious, just so you know."

It was beyond what Sephiroth could stand. After being humiliated by the enemy and endlessly violated from head to toe he couldn't stand to be touched, and Genesis's body so close to his made him uncomfortable. The 1st class SOLDIER held up his hand, "I'll give you five seconds." Genesis watched him slowly bring down his fingers. _Oh fuck!_ The redhead scrambled to get up but it was too late. Sephiroth snatched his ankle and caused him to trip. The 1st ranker pulled the lower class boy toward him and pinned him down angrily. "There's a lot of terrible things I could do to you right now." It was a mild threat, yet his irritation had hit its breaking point.

Genesis nodded, "Yeah, I can imagine."

"If you don't stop bothering me I won't hesitate to kill you."

Genesis wouldn't be surprised, but his mind wasn't working properly anymore. "You know, you look really hot in this position. We should be like this more often." _Yup. I'm just asking to die._

"You just need to be taught a lesson," Sephiroth snapped before he made his move. He didn't think it through clearly because he was so agitated from the entire trip, and Genesis was getting on his nerves to the point he'd do anything to get him to shut up. His right hand glowed violent red as he kept Genesis's left hand pinned down.

The searing fire power against Genesis's wrist made him panic. The heat was surging throughout his limb and it was insanely painful. To Genesis, it felt like a thousand knives were being rammed into him all at once, or as if someone was trying to hack at his skin with a rusty blade. He didn't remember if he screamed or not. He didn't remember how he got back up on his feet or even ten feet away from Sephiroth. At the moment, the only thing Genesis could focus on was the pain. His eyes wildly landed on the wounded arm. He saw how bloody and peeled the skin was, charred practically. Shock settled in and he began to hyperventilate rapidly, trying to cry and scream at the same time but it was a confusing mess as to which was happening when.

Sephiroth felt his own nerves start to shake at seeing Genesis like this. He felt sick. Quickly he went over and knocked Genesis out, unsure of the best way to settle him down. He didn't have any medicine with him and the hysterical behavior from Genesis wasn't helping him at all. In fact, he wasn't sure if he could fix a burn mark like that without proper materials. The sick feeling stayed with him and he realized what it was. He felt guilty…

"Genesis…god I'm sorry," he muttered as he tried to fix the wounded arm on the passed out boy. "I'm so sorry…"

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

Genesis came in and out of consciousness several times, but he didn't have enough energy to stay awake. His arm kept sending him pains that woke him up, yet each time he was awake he couldn't focus on anything. It was like waking up someone in the middle of a heavy slumber, he just felt extremely groggy.

He hadn't realized that Sephiroth had carried him to their ride out of the blasted desert area. He didn't even know that he had gotten onto a helicopter. When he woke up into an actual consciousness that he could keep, he found that he was in a hospital bed. As he sat up he felt lightheaded, but other than that the rest of him felt pretty good.

"Well look who decided to wake up finally," a cheerful woman called out. She was well figured and had a nice, rich voice. "Honey, I thought you were going to sleep your life away. Good to see you alive."

"What...happened?"

"You were on a mission and you got banged up pretty badly, hun, but you'll be all right. We thought you'd lose your arm for a minute there but it seems to be healing relatively well. That mako must have saved you, SOLDIER boy."

Genesis looked at his arm thinking it wasn't going to be there, but it was. He couldn't physically see his skin, but a bandaged appendage was enough to assure him that it wasn't gone. "Huh."

"Let's get some food in you, sugar, and then maybe you can get the hell out of this place." The woman strutted over to him with a tray of food and set it on the table. "Don't eat too quickly, you haven't had food in awhile."

Genesis felt his mouth start to water at the sight of the food, but when he was looked up he noticed her cleavage. "Whoa." _Oh shit, I meant to think that._

Her eyes went down before she gave a jolly laugh and kissed the side of his face leaving two large lip marks in the color of bright red. "Eat your food, silly." She walked on out of the room allowing him to regain his thoughts and get something in his stomach. While he was eating he tried to sit up and felt some intense pain in his shoulder. He felt it and noticed bandages there. He forgot about being shot…how long had he been going with that in him?

It took him awhile longer to eat, the use of only one hand made it rather tough to feed himself. But after he took a few bites he already felt full. As he sat there rather drugged out of his mind, Lazard came in to see how he was doing.

"Genesis Rhapsodos, it seems you're finally awake. I do hope that you're feeling better."

"Mm…not sure yet," Genesis muttered.

"Sephiroth explained everything to me and I've gotten everything taken care of."

"What happened?" He had already asked the nurse, but he hoped for some detail.

Lazard sighed and pulled his glasses off, cleaning them delicately. "Well…Sephiroth said that the two of you got in a slight argument and he got upset enough that he burnt your arm. You went into shock and he knocked you out and brought you back home."

"Oh." Now he was starting to remember. "Typical…I save him, he hurts me and pretends to save me."

Lazard gave a slight smile, "Yes, he didn't give much detail about that part, but he said that he wanted to not talk about it for awhile until he knew you were awake."

"Ah." Genesis rubbed his eye. "It might take me awhile to remember, my head feels fuzzy."

Lazard nodded, "Of course. You need to rest." He waited a minute before pointing at his cheek, "You've got some lipstick right there."

Genesis moved to wipe it off, "Oh yeah. Right." He made more of a mess then anything, but he kept rubbing at it. "Did…Angeal come back yet?"

Lazard shook his head, "Not yet, I'm afraid. That brigade is still out at war."

Genesis frowned and looked at his lap. "Oh. When will he come back?"

"Not for awhile. I'll tell you details when we've sorted things out. We've been caught up in trying to get you and Sephiroth home that we haven't had time to negotiate well with the enemy."

"Oh." More like they wanted Sephiroth back and they didn't care how many people died. He was annoyed at their treatment of everyone else. Were they not upset at the losses they had or were they too caught up in the pleasure of seeing Sephiroth back home? How disgusting. Those people were important…to families, to Shinra….to him.

"We're supposed to give you warning that we laced your medication for your arm with mako. It's helping you recover faster, but when you come off of the medication it may take awhile for you to come off of the mako. It can be rather addicting but harmful. As a SOLDIER you shouldn't have too much of a problem, but every person reacts differently to mako." Lazard checked Genesis's charts as if he was the boy's doctor. He seemed relatively interested in staying around, yet Genesis couldn't tell as to why. He was acting strangely, that's for sure. "You'll want to keep in touch with the doctor's here once you're discharged."

"Yeah." Genesis kept watching the nervous Director and finally had to ask. "Is something wrong?"

Lazard brushed a piece of his blonde hair from his face and adjusted his gloves with dignity. The man cleared his throat before nodding, "Yes. Genesis, you know that SOLDIER is based on the elite. We need fighters, especially the most powerful in this group. That means someone who isn't in anyway disabled. You realize that if you lose your arm that your time in SOLDIER will be up, yes?"

Genesis felt a lump form in his throat. _If I don't heal I'll be thrown out even after all that I've done. They don't need someone who only has one hand…they need people who can actually work. I'd be behind everyone and unable to fight properly. It'll take me years to get used to just one hand…_ Genesis looked at the bandaged arm almost fearful of what lay underneath the gauze. _I'm nothing in this group aside from a back-up that had helped return the Legendary Hero back to his original position. I'm nothing to the higher-ups because I'm of no use to them aside from being expendable. I'm nothing to Sephiroth…_ "I…see…"

"It's nothing personal, Genesis, it's part of protocol. If it does happen Shinra will cover the surgery and your recovery expenses and we'll pay for your return home."

_What good will I be at home with one arm?_ "Okay."

The Director could see Genesis's mood getting worse. He didn't want to send him into shock again, but someone had to tell him. He went over and placed his hand gently on Genesis's good shoulder. "Don't panic, I'm certain you'll heal up and be fine." Before he could pull away Genesis grabbed onto him.

"How much mako are you giving me?"

"Just trace amounts, Genesis, not large doses."

"The more mako the faster I heal, right? The better my chances?"

"Yes, that is what usually happens."

"Give me more."

Lazard saw the seriousness of the subject. Genesis was desperate to stay here, he could tell, and that didn't bode well for him. It wasn't like he was a doctor, he didn't know what would happen if Genesis got hold of more mako in his system. "Genesis, I can't do that, you might become addicted."

"I don't care if I get addicted!" Genesis snapped at him. "I need my arm."

"Genesis…"

"Please, Director…" Genesis kept his grasp on Lazard's arm. "What am I going to do for the rest of my life with one arm? It's not like I'm old and able to retire!"

He was right, as much as Lazard didn't want to admit it, the boy was very young and had a long life ahead of him. There was some guilt rising up in him as he looked at Genesis, how desperate the boy was. Could he afford to keep Genesis and let him recover rapidly…and then try to fix him off of mako? It'd be risky, very risky. Yet he couldn't just tell this pining boy to forget having a future…

"I'll do anything," Genesis begged. "Please."

"Anything?" Lazard questioned his words. He had already felt bad about the boy's situation, but now he was offering himself up for unknown services? He was desperate…

Genesis wasn't sure why he had said it and now that Lazard had repeated it, he could feel the regret settling in on those words. "Y-yes." Given his attention to details on Lazard, he had always thought the man to be gay… Maybe he should have kept quiet instead? Would Lazard use him for… 'services'?

"Well…I'm sure I can think of something for you to do once your arm is fixed. I'll see what I can do for the dosages." He didn't make any promises and he didn't give detail on what Genesis could do to ensure that he get help. He wanted to keep Genesis guessing. "Get some rest, we'll keep you updated about Angeal."

Genesis watched Lazard leave. _I need Angeal right now…what kind of problems am I getting myself into?_ He fell back into his pillow and covered himself up with the thin blanket. He wished he could sleep all the way to recovery…

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

Over the next two weeks Genesis had been receiving double the dosage of mako. The improvements of his recovery were showing already, but he wasn't completely fixed as of yet. They allowed him to leave the hospital wing, yet he still needed to return to get his medication and mako injections. Lazard didn't approach him on payment or anything of the sort, and so far he had avoided Sephiroth…or the man was avoiding him, he wasn't sure.

He was in his room reading LOVELESS, his favorite classic, when the door opened. His brilliant shining blue eyes went toward the door to find Angeal standing there looking thinner than usual and dirty, but in good spirits. "A-Angeal!" The redhead dropped the book and went over, hugging his friend tightly. It was hard being away from him and he was thankful that the man was back home. "I missed you so much."

Angeal laughed at Genesis's quick movements and loving embrace. "I'm not sure if you want to hug me, I smell and I'm dirty."

"I don't care, it's been too long."

"It has," Angeal agreed, patting the redhead on the back. "I wasn't expecting this kind of welcome, you make me think that something bad happened."

"Something bad has happened…but…" Genesis pulled from his friend. "But we can talk later. Get cleaned up, we can go out to eat to celebrate."

Angeal stared at Genesis's eyes and how bright they were. He knew that wasn't normal. Everyone else's eyes had faded a bit, though they glowed it wasn't like this… Instead of questioning him he gave a nod and moved to the bathroom.

When they finally went out and sat down to eat Genesis allowed Angeal to go over his issues first. It seemed he had a mild case of problems with the death and destruction, he seemed better off and enjoyed his mission more than Genesis did. When Angeal told Genesis to let loose, Genesis spilled out everything that went on. First his group dying, then Sephiroth's attempt in helping him, then the kidnappings to the body shots. Angeal's face kept getting more and more intrigued and disgruntled as Genesis went on. Once he had mentioned the problem with his hand in detail and what Lazard had told him, Angeal could tell that Genesis was starting to get a bit panicky, twitchy even.

"It's all right, no need to get upset. You'll be fine, you're healing from what I can tell. I'm just surprised…that they'd give you so much mako. It's not safe, Genesis. Everyone can tell what you're doing and we're all thinking the same thing."

Genesis gave a somber nod to his friend's concerns. "I know but…I can't just allow myself to become useless. I mean, it wasn't even a battle wound, it was Sephiroth deliberately hurting me. They'd cover that up and would ignore anything I said. I have to stay in SOLDIER…I have to. If I don't…they'll erase my existence from this planet."

Angeal could tell that Genesis was having trouble with it all. He understood why Sephiroth attacked Genesis, but he didn't get why at such a powerful degree. Had Sephiroth forgotten how strong he was in comparison to others? "Right. The mako will fix it all…just be careful with your dosages, okay? And I'll help you when you get off of it, all right? I don't need you getting hurt."

Genesis nodded slowly, "Right." It had been one of the last things on his mind until now. "The one thing I'm worried about is what I told Lazard."

"What do you mean?"

"I…said I'd do anything and he told me he'd have something for me to do when I'm better. What's that even mean?"

Angeal smiled at his friend's irrational thoughts, "A mission most likely. It's the only thing he'd need you for."

He hadn't thought of that… "Oh…God I hope so."

"What have you been thinking he'd make you do?"

"Have sex with him," Genesis admitted. "He didn't hint at it or anything but I've always thought he was like that…so I just didn't know if I had cornered myself or what."

Angeal chuckled at Genesis's words, "Buy some condoms just in case I suppose."

"Angeal!"

"What? I'm being reasonable."

"You're making my fears a lot worse than they need to be."

"It's not my fault you're twitchy and spastic."

Genesis sighed and took a few gulps of his drink before setting it back down, "I haven't talked to Sephiroth at all."

"Yeah I can imagine. I wouldn't be in great speaking terms with anyone after they toasted my arm like a s'mores over a campfire."

"He didn't even thank me for getting him out of that stupid mess…"

"It might have slipped his mind since he was busy enjoying freedom."

"So? I…I'm just upset…about everything. We were connecting pretty well until he hurt me."

"You stepped over his boundaries and he overreacted."

"I get that…but…it was far more violent then it needed to be. I mean, I can understand hitting me or something, but trying to fry my arm off is different."

"You should talk to him," Angeal remarked and took a sip of his coffee.

"What? Why should I? He should come to me," Genesis argued.

"He won't," Angeal replied back. "He thinks you're mad at him I imagine and he might feel guilty for what he did, so he'd probably assume that approaching you would be stupid. Sephiroth must think that once you cool down you'll come to him and he'll tell you what you want to hear."

"That's dumb…" Genesis murmured. "I don't even think he can feel guilty."

"Sure he can, all human beings can feel a range of emotions."

"He's a monster," Genesis stated. "We talked about it on our travels. It's because he feels nothing when he kills people. He puts everything in a category. Comrade or enemy…" Genesis glanced at the tea before him. "There's no between…"

Angeal grabbed Genesis's arm and gave his bicep a slight squeeze, "Hey, listen to me. I know Sephiroth may be different than most guys…but he doesn't categorize you into either of those groups. You're his friend, Genesis, and he regrets his actions on you."

"How would you even know what he thinks?"

"I talked to him before I got to the room," Angeal remarked. "Trust me when I say he feels guilty. I've never seen a man look so troubled before in my life. He's going to keep acting like that until you talk to him, and after the humiliation he's gone through with the enemy I don't think it'll be very healthy for his mind to keep dwelling on this."

Genesis glanced up at him. _Sephiroth…God I'm so pissed at him but then again I can't be. He was so shaken up and exhausted from his time with those bastards…and I probably just provoked him in the wrong way…He was being sensitive after being treated so vulgarly. When I straddled him he probably went back into that dismal place and thought I was one of those other freaks. As much as I hurt…he's got it just as bad as I do._ He looked into his drink and saw his blue eyes staring back at him in their illuminating glow. _Sephiroth needs some comfort…and so do I. Maybe…we can provide for each other's needs?_ "I'll go talk to him."

Angeal gave his gentle smile to his partner, "Good…I'm glad you will."

"I'm sure he will be, too."

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

Sephiroth had spent his time trying to get the stressful humiliation out of his system. He had terrible nightmares about being stuck back in there and couldn't sleep very well. He had stopped eating all over again, and his fretful restless nights only made him cranky during the day. Lazard didn't want to deal with him and he had no one else to turn to. He couldn't do any missions because of his mental state at the moment and his injuries. So he confined himself to his room where he wrote down as much as he could. He hoped that getting it out of his system would compel the stress to wash away, but it only made him feel worse once he remembered what had gone on. It was like seeing a horror movie and the images wouldn't leave him alone.

And for once in his life Sephiroth didn't enjoy being alone on it all. He wanted to talk to someone in hopes of ridding of the problem, and the one person he thought he could turn to…was probably pissed at him for what he had done. If only he could go back in time and stop himself from hurting Genesis. It was a simple mistake, Genesis was being utterly harmless and he had to act like a fool…

Sephiroth threw the pencil and paper onto the ground and picked up the magazine he had stolen from Lazard. He flipped to the article on him and noticed he was helping move Genesis out of the helicopter. The font screamed _'Sephiroth Helps Wounded Comrade! Saves the Planet Again!'_ Saved the Planet again? He had done no such thing. He tore out the picture and wrote with a permanent marker 'I have saved nothing' on top of the title. He rose and grabbed up the photo album he had, pawing through and placing it into its own slot. The pages slipped from him and his eyes landed on a picture of him as a kid, one of the few that Genesis had pointed out.

Maybe his parents got rid of him because they knew he was not a savior of anything…and that he would stand by silently and never tell them the truth…

With anger he slapped the album closed and pushed it away, knocking it and several other items onto the floor. There was anger in him, but also a rejected feeling as well. It seemed like society had moved away from who he really was and began to make up things. In fact, he wasn't sure who he really was anymore. When he talked with Genesis he felt like a real person…and to feel like that was terrifying in every imaginable sense. He wasn't supposed to feel guilt or regret…but he did. It was as if Genesis awakened the things he hid inside him. But why? Was it because Genesis didn't see him as the 'savior' of the world? No…Genesis was like everyone else in that sense, the man often commented on how he was a 'hero' to the world. What was the difference?

Sephiroth strode over and fell into bed, covering himself up tightly with the blankets. For not caring about anyone or anything for so long…he was starting to feel like Genesis was the first person to ever cause him this type of emotional feeling. He felt like he belonged when he talked to Genesis and he actually did enjoy hearing the boy talk at times. Maybe if he came up with better subjects to talk about, but he still liked the attention. And that was it! The attention! It wasn't the kind the media gave him, where they dressed it up with questions set up to make him sound good already. Genesis delved into the deeper part of things…even if Sephiroth never fully responded on them.

As Sephiroth sat there he wondered what he'd do now. He liked Genesis as a friend…but what of it now? Was it destroyed?

A soft knock on his door made Sephiroth pull from his deep thoughts to look at who was disturbing him. As if his own thoughts summoned him, there stood Genesis at the door looking timid and hesitant. What should Sephiroth do? Tell him to come in? Apologize now? He had never been stuck in this type of situation.

"Sephiroth," Genesis murmured and pushed the door closed behind him. "I…wanted to see how you were doing." The bandaged hand hung beside him, it was the first thing that Sephiroth saw.

"I'm…well who cares…how's your hand? I'm…I'm sorry about…everything. I shouldn't have acted like that, I don't know what overcame me," Sephiroth apologized quickly.

"No, it's okay," Genesis lied. "Technically it's my fault for joking around with you…after what you've been through. It'll heal…"

Sephiroth glanced into Genesis's glowing eyes. Of course it'd heal, he was overdosing with mako. "That's…unhealthy, you know."

"I know…but I'll be out of a job and a life if I don't."

Sephiroth dropped his eyes again. Why had he been so foolish? "I truly do apologize for what problems I've caused you, Genesis. My behavior was irrational and irresponsible and I take blame for what you've gone through in trying to heal. If there's a problem you run into I offer up my services in helping you…"

Genesis gave a slight laugh, though it was more in pity. "That's some nice, formal talk you've got going." He took a few steps and sat down on the bed beside Sephiroth. "Don't worry about it…I'll be fine. I…I was thinking about you and how you're doing instead. Physical wounds can heal…but memories take awhile to forget."

Sephiroth shook his head, "It's…prominent…as if it happened this morning. I can't sleep…I've tried writing it down but it doesn't make it any better. I wanted to talk to someone…but I…" Sephiroth looked at Genesis, "Well, I felt too guilty to say anything to you, and Lazard was my only other option. He…wasn't happy with me when I explained that we fought. He knew I had been the one to overreact, obviously. He said I needed to learn to accept other's feelings and thoughts rather than consider that everyone is the same. So…it was his way of telling me off. I've been staying in here this whole time."

"I see," Genesis remarked. "Well…I'm here now, if you still want to talk that is."

Sephiroth didn't know what to say now that Genesis was here. He had been thinking about it for so long, but now that it was happening he still wanted to keep his personal problems to himself. "It's…really personal, I'm not sure how much I want to say about it."

Genesis nodded. He knew not to pressure him. "Say what you need to say. Even after what's happened between us…I still consider us as friends. I mean, I don't know what you think about me but I care for you. I didn't come in here to demand you to apologize to me for what's happened. I came in here because I knew you were trying to get over a traumatic experience. Maybe you're not ready for that, but I'm here to listen. You're just the one that has to speak up…I can't do that for you."

Sephiroth took his time, thinking about what to say first, what was most important to say to Genesis. He still felt hesitant about it. He had never bothered anyone before in his life…and now he was going to change that. "The…hardest part about it all…is trying to get to sleep at night. You'd think anyone could get used to it, especially how long I've been serving with the others. We've all been exposed to haunting images, murderous and gory blood baths… but for some reason when it comes down to being the victim…it sticks with you. When everything stops for nighttime the mind continues to process the same feeling and the same motions over and over. Supposedly your mind warps memories over time, and as much as you try to remember you can't. Yet…I can't do that. I remember all the details of what happened even if my head was covered. But it's not only just this one incident. I remember the past ones as well…" Sephiroth eased into the topic a bit, eyes watching the door as if someone would come in to eavesdrop. "I've been hurt plenty of times, but not exactly tortured and humiliated. Having it happen to you reawakens the past pain. It's the worst. I lay there trying to sleep…and I end up reliving my entire life…at least the painful parts of it. By the time it's morning, I've caused myself enough mental agony to make me not want to sleep." A gentle sigh escaped him. "But in the past…I've been hurt…and over time I've forgotten. How long then, must I wait to forget this?"

Genesis didn't know the answer to that, but he was assuming it was more of a rhetorical question anyway. "You know…why don't you try to replace it?"

Sephiroth shook his head, "What do you mean?"

"I mean find a good memory. Or make a new one. If something good starts happening now…you'll forget about the bad. That's what I do at least when something bad keeps haunting me. I just…ask Angeal to hang out and then I forget."

Sephiroth didn't believe the remedy would be that simple, but then again he had never been able to try it that way. He wondered if it would work. "Is that my cue to ask you to 'hang out' with me?"

Genesis laughed, "Well…no, but it was a suggestion. Besides we're already doing that."

Sephiroth stared into Genesis's glowing blue eyes. "This, huh?" He turned his head back to the emptiness before him. "Entertain me, let's see how much you can make me forget."

"Entertain you? How?"

"I don't know, do what you do best."

He had no idea what he did best. His eyes went to his hands, "I'm not sure if I can do a one-hand massage. Unless you wanted…you know…" Genesis made the hand motion.

Sephiroth looked and gave a disgusted face, "Genesis." He didn't need the guy to jack him off. "That's not helping at all."

"Sorry, you said what I'm best at…"

"You're the best at masturbation?"

"Not what I meant—"

"I learn something new about you every day."

Genesis glared at him, but he still had his cocky smirk on his face. "Hey, you better watch yourself. I can make you relive some pretty terrible memories."

"Oh, what will you do? Lick me again? You know, that's the second time you've done that now that I think about it."

Genesis's smile was gone from his face, "What?"

"Yes, that's right. First pie and then alcohol."

"Oh," he murmured. He forgot about the pie. "Hey you know, you've freaked out on me twice because of it, too. First you punched me so I bit a hole in my tongue and this time you tried to cauterize my arm. I wonder…will the third time be a charm?"

"In me killing you completely?"

"Or you falling madly in love with me," Genesis joked as he made a dramatic motion, placing his hands over his heart.

"Or you finally admit you're gay," Sephiroth quipped back.

"What if both happened? I said I was gay and you said you loved me."

"Then I guess your dreams would finally come true."

"What dreams?"

Sephiroth shook his head, "You forgot?" He noticed Genesis didn't give any sign of remembering. "The whole 'harder, Sephiroth, harder' in your desperate and sexually driven mind of yours," he prompted.

"Ooooh. I told you that was a joke."

"I don't believe it."

_I can't blame him._ "Okay, before I did that I did have a dream about us," Genesis admitted. "It was pretty good. You've got really nice hips, perfect for handling." He turned to face Sephiroth completely. "Want me to reenact it?"

Sephiroth shook his head, "I'm not dressed properly for you to be handling me in that type of situation. Besides, I'm not you."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means I'm not a whore."

_I'm a whore? I haven't really done that much. I might say a lot…doesn't mean I always act on it._ "It's not really whoreish if I just do it to you."

"Right. Then you get turned in for sexual harassment."

"You wouldn't turn me in," Genesis argued. "Would you?"

"I might."

Genesis smiled, "I don't think you would…because you'll like what I plan to do to you."

"It's comments like those that make me question your sexuality."

"I stopped thinking about it. I think it's the mako…it makes me care a hell of a lot less about consequences and my future."

"So instead of sharpening your attention it dulled it? That's not good."

"Oh I'm twitchy as fuck, but just because I notice a lot more things doesn't mean I care more than I did before."

"I suppose."

Genesis kept his eyes on Sephiroth, sizing him up, wondering how far he could take his joke again. He got hurt the last two times, but would Sephiroth act again? Then again, why did he keep acting on it? _What if…_

_What if…I'm…actually into guys? Is that possible? I don't think I am…I like girls. I mean, I stare at them and check them out all the time, but I spend a majority of my time trying to get on Sephiroth…_

_Oh my…_

"Whoa…" Genesis whispered. Sephiroth's eyes quickly snapped over to him. He wondered what was wrong with Genesis now. "I think I just realized something."

"What?"

_It explains everything. Why I try so hard to talk to Sephiroth, why I keep flirting. It's the same thing I did to my first girlfriend…but now it's all on Sephiroth. It has to be. But how didn't I figure this out? I'm pretty good at denial I suppose. Or…I just thought everything was too much of a joke to realize the real feelings behind it all. Is this the mako talking or is it just revealing some hidden emotions? God I wish I knew…_ Genesis looked into Sephiroth's eyes and noticed the figure was waiting for him to explain what was wrong. _And I keep getting this feeling whenever I'm around him. I…thought it was just comfort of friendship. Instead I think…it's something else._ "I've got it bad."

"Got what bad?" Sephiroth had never heard this talk before. What was going on?

"I…think I have a crush…"

"What? You mean you like someone?" Sephiroth watched Genesis nod. "Oh." He hesitated. "Who?"

Genesis was somewhat surprised at how oblivious Sephiroth was being right now. "On you."

There was silence as Sephiroth tried to logically think through what that meant and the consequences of hearing that. He quickly assumed Genesis was just being his usual self. "Oh. Another one of your jokes. You're good at acting, you should look into that if you lose your hand."

Genesis almost laughed but couldn't. "No I'm serious."

"I'm sure you are."

"No seriously, Sephiroth. I think I really want to be with you."

Sephiroth wasn't sure if he should humor him or not. "Okay, what makes you say that?"

"Isn't it obvious? I flirt with you all the time, I'm depressed when you're not around—"

"You get depressed when I leave?" Sephiroth remarked incredulously.

"Yeah, I pine for your attention all the time. I've totally put the moves on you several times. When it comes down to it, I must be really into you."

Sephiroth could see where his points were at, but he had to ask, "Didn't I point this out to you before at some point and you blew it off as 'joking'? When did it change from joking to reality?"

"When I just realized that every time I said I was joking I wasn't thinking a whole lot on what I really feel. First step is denial…"

Now Sephiroth didn't know what to think. Genesis was confusing him. "So…you're actually being serious right now. This isn't a joke. You're admitting full-heartedly that you do like me."

"Yeah."

"Okay…" Sephiroth felt a bit awkward now that Genesis had said that. "Well…thanks for being honest?" What does someone say once that happens? He didn't return the feelings, obviously.

"This won't affect our friendship, right?" Genesis questioned. Now that he said all of that he was afraid that he had just driven Sephiroth away.

"I don't know," Sephiroth remarked. "I…guess that depends on you."

"How so?"

"Technically, if you like me and I don't like you, that's causing yourself agony because you know that I don't like anyone, especially in that manner."

He was right and Genesis wished it wasn't so. "If you don't care so much, maybe you should just let it happen anyway? You're not enjoying it but you don't hate it either. You can't be satisfied, but you could satisfy someone else."

Genesis was trying to con Sephiroth into a relationship. As much as Sephiroth knew that'd be great for Genesis, he really didn't want to get put into that type of a vice. Besides, even as he mentioned it he could see all the problems with that. "That wouldn't work at all."

"Why?"

"Because we're seeing it on completely different levels. Hypothetically, if we were dating, you'd think that the relationship is great because you've got someone to love and over time you'd expect that in return. Unfortunately for you, I don't like anyone. So one night you'd come in here and unload some emotional story and want comfort and I wouldn't give it to you. We'd fight. You'd make a comment along the lines of 'why don't you love me?' and my response would be 'I never loved you in the first place' and it'd get really complicated and messy after that." The room went into a quiet contemplation of the situation. Sephiroth at first thought that Genesis was going to agree with his words, but seeing the look on Genesis's face made him realize he probably upset him more than anything. "Are you okay?"

"You don't care so don't ask me that," Genesis murmured.

Sephiroth was taken aback by that. He didn't think Genesis would use that against him. "Genesis…"

"You don't think that…over time…or at some random point in your life that you're going to really care for someone, do you? You don't believe that you'll see any difference between someone like me and everyone else that works here?" He noticed Sephiroth did not respond. "If the answer is no then don't ask me how I'm feeling because you don't care."

He tried to redeem himself even after Genesis's harsh comment. "Just because I don't find everyone physically appealing or disgusting doesn't mean I stopped caring for their well-being."

Genesis held up his wounded hand, "Yeah I'm doing great, can't you tell?" His sarcasm struck Sephiroth very negatively.

"Genesis, I'm sorry. For your arm and for upsetting you right now. I'm not trying to hurt you on purpose." He could tell he wasn't getting through to him. "How am I supposed to know what I'll be like in the future? I'm assuming I'll just be the same person I've always been. Doesn't mean it's true."

Genesis kept his eyes on the ground as Sephiroth tried to explain everything. "You're not who you were. Neither am I. Change is possible."

"Perhaps…but I don't want to commit to anything that I have no control over the outcome."

Genesis sighed and looked up at him, "Okay. If we were in a relationship, what would you like to control?"

"Physical activity," Sephiroth quickly replied.

The smile on Genesis's face finally came back. "Oh?"

"There would be none of that."

"What kind of activity are we talking about?"

Sephiroth really didn't want to explain. "The…physical kind."

It made Genesis laugh, at least. "So…no sex."

"That is the obvious one."

"What else?"

"How's about…touching in general?"

"You do realize that would be really hard for me, and it would also pull all the fun out of dating."

"Sorry, but that's just who I am."

"I touch you more when we're friends then I would be able to if we're dating."

"Yeah, I know. Seems dating isn't such a good option, right?" Sephiroth remarked.

"You'd have to allow me to do some touching. I wouldn't do anything overly sexual to you."

Sephiroth shook his head, "Um no. Overly sexual for you would be sex. But that means free game for you doing anything else. I can just imagine you trying to smooth talk me into something I wouldn't want to do because you'd say it's not 'overly sexual.'"

Genesis nodded, "Yeah, I probably would do that."

"See? No touching."

"Not even like…kissing and cuddling?"

"Don't you know what 'no touching' means?"

"But kissing is very stimulating!"

"Having you stimulated only means you'd fight harder to do more sexual crap than I'd ever allow."

Genesis pondered about the situation. It wasn't looking too good. "I guess that means no massages either."

Sephiroth would indeed miss those. Wait. He wasn't going out with Genesis. Guh, it was like Genesis had already convinced him to give in! He needed to control this situation. "We're not dating. At all."

"So that means I can touch you all I want?"

"What? No. Any rules of dating instantly apply to our friendship as well."

"Then why don't we just say we're dating? It doesn't change anything aside from me getting claims on you."

Sephiroth rolled his eyes, "You can't even brag to anyone."

"Why not?"

Sephiroth rose and stared down at Genesis, "Are you serious? If you told one person they'd tell another, and it multiplies, and then Shinra and Lazard would be asking about it, then the media would be in on it. People would freak."

"Would they punch us in the face or set our hands on fire?"

Sephiroth stared at Genesis as the guy had a straight face on. He wasn't sure how to respond to that. He wanted to laugh, but giving in to that would make Genesis feel empowered, and he couldn't allow that. "You…." Sephiroth needed to think of something to pull them back on topic. "You're just…No. They wouldn't. Also, this conversation is done. It's not happening."

"The…conversation isn't happening?" Genesis questioned him.

"Would you stop? You know what I mean."

Genesis started to laugh, "Yeah, I do, but you're freaking out and it's pretty funny."

Sephiroth kept staring at Genesis, "Was this entire thing a joke?"

"What? No. I still want to date you, I think once you've experienced some not-so-overly sexual stuff you'll be begging for the overly sexual."

"Keep dreaming," Sephiroth commented.

Genesis rose and put his arms around Sephiroth's waist, "It's…what I do best." His phone beeped and Genesis let go of Sephiroth to check it. He gave a small sigh and put it away, "I have to go, I need my mako."

Sephiroth didn't know what to say to that. Their conversation really was out there…

"Oh, Sephiroth one more thing."

Sephiroth turned to face the door and see what he wanted, but when he turned Genesis had grabbed onto him and kissed him. He didn't have time to react or anything, it was a quick peck before the redhead had made his way back to the door. "Bye Sephiroth." Sephiroth stood there for awhile after Genesis had left trying to figure out what had happened. He touched his lips with his fingers. That wasn't right.

"Bye…?"

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_I can't believe I did that. I think the mako really is affecting me. I've never had enough courage to pull through with kissing someone so spontaneously. Thank the Goddess I got out of there quickly, I can only assume that he would have knocked me out for doing such a thing to him. But I can't help it…I'm really starting to feel a lot of things for him. So what if he said the relationship wouldn't work out, he didn't say that I had to leave him alone! Then again, not like I'd listen to him even if he did say that…_

"Genesis, are you going to bed yet? You've been sitting there staring at the same page for the past half hour," Angeal remarked as he moved about the room turning off lights.

"What?" Genesis murmured before responding, "Oh um. Yeah I'm done."

"What's gotten into you? You're acting spacey."

_I don't think it'd be a good idea to tell Angeal the truth. As much as I want to tell him everything, I think keeping the kiss a secret would be best. And…even my sexuality. What if it is just the mako? What if it's just messing with my hormones and I'm desperate? What if I regret kissing Sephiroth?_ "I'm…just processing a lot. The mako is making me weird I guess."

"I suppose," Angeal mumbled. "You should start to pull off of it, your arm should be done with recovering soon enough."

"Yeah I guess…I don't know…"

"What do you mean you don't know? It's dangerous to keep taking heavy dosages, Genesis."

"I know…I just…" Genesis shook his head. "You know, it's not what I care about right now."

Angeal got into bed and looked over at his friend. "And what is on your mind that seems more important than you living to see another day?"

"I…well…" Genesis wasn't sure how to lie about it. "I can't exactly say. The mako is making me think weird things."

"You make it sound like the mako is someone inside your head."

"It might as well be, my thoughts and actions don't even make sense to me anymore." Genesis set the book down but didn't prepare for bed. "I'll see how far in the recovery process I'm in…and then I'll ask them to adjust the dosage, okay?"

Angeal smiled at Genesis's words, "Good. Now get some sleep."

Genesis got into bed and watched Angeal flick off the last light. _Now I wonder…what's real and what isn't anymore. Did I mean that kiss or was it just an influence from my drugged up state? But mako shouldn't affect me this badly, should it? I don't even know…I'm not sure what I want. Will I still be friends with Sephiroth…no matter what the outcome is? Or have I tarnished it already? How will he act if we are still friends? Will we forget about this entire ordeal? Or…what if something blossoms from this?_ Genesis turned over onto his side and stared out at the cloudy night.

_I wish…I knew…_

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Tada! Hope you liked it. And I hope to update again soon. Please review and tell me what you think of the chapter/story/etc so far!


	6. Chapter 6

Another chapter!

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_I hate sitting and waiting for a doctor. It's so awkward. Everyone stares at you and the seats are rather uncomfortable, plus the feeling of the air makes you believe you're getting sicker sitting there more than you were before. Not that I'm sick, I just need my arm looked at. I told Angeal I'd get it checked out so I can lower the dosages of mako, but I hate actually having to step up and do these things. Seriously, I get stage fright doing simple things. Besides, the mako hasn't worn off so I'm still tweaking like I've been snorting crack all morning. Maybe that's why everyone is staring at me. Yeah, that would make more sense…_

Genesis was sitting between two other guys, both which had infantry clothing on. His eyes turned to the one on his left, it looked like he had a stomach ache or something. The person on his right had a cloth against his head and Genesis could see the blood splotching the rag.

"Mr…Lowbreeze?" The nurse called out and the guy on Genesis's right got up and went in.

_You'd think they'd have more doctors or something, jeez. Is everyone on vacation or something? Well whatever, I can handle waiting._ Genesis glanced back at the guy on his left and noticed he was looking much worse than before. "Do you need a garbage can or something?"

The guy turned to look at Genesis and shook his head, "No…not yet anyway."

Genesis nodded at him slowly before the nurse came back out, "Mr. Rhapsodos?"

Genesis got up and moved inside where the doctor was at. "I want to see how it's doing. If I'm better I'd like to…lower the mako dosage." That was the right thing to say, right?

His doctor grabbed his arm and started to undo the bandages, "We'll see how it's doing, then." As he undid the wrappings Genesis watched carefully. He usually looked away because he didn't like the way his arm looked. But this time it looked far better than before. "Seems to be doing very well. Clench your fist for me. Good. Now open your hand as wide as you can. Good. Move your wrist side to side…now up and down." The doctor watched the movements and nodded, "Yes, it's much better. It still needs to heal, but movement means that the muscle hasn't been damaged. I think some physical therapy will help." The doctor started to write some things down before he came back over and washed Genesis's arm and dried it off carefully. He then covered it in some salve and wrapped it again, but this time he allowed for Genesis to actually use his hand. "Try not to overwork yourself. Too much movement could rip something and we don't want that." Genesis felt pretty good about it all until the doctor brought over the shots. "We can only cut down on so much mako. If we pull you from it too quickly you'll probably go into withdrawal, and that can get ugly."

"How…long do you think it'll take?"

"Considering you're a SOLDIER I don't think it'll take more than a few months for you to pull from it all."

"Seriously? It's not even that big of a dose…"

"Yes, well…we like to take our precautions."

_Precautions? This is just ridiculous, I bet I could get off of it in a week once I heal completely. Maybe I should talk to Lazard about it once I'm better? I bet he'd understand my thoughts…_ Genesis didn't say anything else. Once the doctor was finished he left and went to talk to Angeal, but found that he wasn't in the room. _Is he already back on missions? That'd suck, he just got back…Maybe they're debriefing him? They didn't bother doing that to me. Wait. Wasn't I supposed to talk to Lazard about what happened? Well…I wonder if he's busy right now? Besides, if Sephiroth isn't around that means I could reveal whatever I want. And anyway, after kissing Sephiroth last night I'm not sure how I should face him…_

Genesis went into the elevator and headed for Lazard's office, sliding in and gave a sigh of relief that Sephiroth wasn't in there. _Thank the Goddess._ "Good morning, Director."

Lazard looked up to see the redhead standing there, "Oh, Genesis, it's been awhile, how's the arm?"

"It's feeling much better," Genesis replied. "I came here because you had mentioned Sephiroth had never told you the complete story about what happened…and I don't mind disclosing what went on."

Lazard nodded and moved some papers into a different pile, after that he grabbed up another pile and put it before him. "Yes, I'd like to understand what went on, I'm still rather confused at how you two fought."

Genesis wondered how much of it he should say. Was it wrong to leave out details? Then again, it wasn't like he did anything terrible. "Well, for an overview, my group arrived there, was slaughtered within hours, and I was hunted down. Sephiroth called me at some point, then he blasted the whole mountain with magic, I fell unconscious, and he was kidnapped. Later on I found where they were hiding and went into their base when they were switching lookouts. I knocked a guy out, stole his clothes, and pretended to be one of them. Someone took me directly to Sephiroth…"

Lazard scribbled down a few notes when Genesis started to trail, "Some detail on how you helped him would be appreciated."

Details? Haha. Ah. "Well…okay don't judge me on this, I had to stay undercover."

"I'm not judging."

"Okay. They were all drinking and crazy. Sephiroth was lying there with a bag on his head, no shirt on, pants half open. They were asking for volunteers to do a body shot off of him and some guy shoved me forward, so I just went with it."

Lazard looked up from his notes, "Okay…"

"Then I said I'd like to tap that, and everyone cheered me on, but instead of raping the poor guy I just slipped him some materia and he killed everyone. He was really quick at demolishing the place. That's basically how I saved him." _Wow, now that I think about it, I really didn't save him at all._

"Um…well, that's a very interesting way to save someone."

"It's what I'm good at." _I really need to stop speaking before I think these things out._ "Anyway, the next day we ate and walked a lot, then a tank came out of the ground and shot missiles at us, and Sephiroth leapt into the air and my Goddess it was…mind boggling. We were fine, but Sephiroth defied gravity and…I flipped out on him."

"Why exactly?"

"I told him he could have just jumped over the damn mountain so that I didn't have to escort him home, and I was panicking because we lost our supplies. It was going to be a few days without anything and I blamed him. He took it pretty well, he didn't fight me about anything. It was sometime later that day or the next, I can't remember exactly, but I made a joke that sex is the greatest way to warm up."

Lazard coughed slightly, "Um. You said that to him?"

"Haha, yeah, isn't that great? It was a joke. I even said 'I'm joking' and…" maybe he should skip over straddling him? "and he told me to back off. So I did, but I wasn't exactly quick enough in it because he pinned me down and said…well I'm not exactly sure. Something about he'd hurt me pretty badly if I didn't shape up. So instead of actually saying 'yeah okay' I went for the more casual 'you're really sexy at this angle' or close to that, and he snapped. Full blown crazy, you know? I just remember hurting a lot and trying to run or something and then blacking out."

"He mentioned he knocked you out."

"That wouldn't surprise me."

"So…he hurt you because you…"

"Complimented him."

"Well I wouldn't exactly say that…"

"I was joking. I think the tortures and lack of hair product might have caused him to go nuts. He's never been snappy about my jokes before."

Lazard gave a slight chuckle before straightening up, "I would imagine it was more of the torture being a problem. Body shots were probably…the easiest thing to go through."

"Oh yeah, he told me a few stories but I'm not one to speak up about it, I mean, I don't think he'd like it if I said stuff to anyone else."

"He told you what happened?"

"Not everything, just a few things."

"He usually keeps to himself."

"What can I say, people love telling me things."

Lazard shook his head, "I can't imagine Sephiroth thinking that's a good idea."

"Why not? You know, I think it was the body shot. He probably really liked it and decided he could open up to me."

Lazard laughed again, "Oh my, Genesis, you do say the most surprising things."

"Nah, I'm sure you would have done the same if you were in his position."

Lazard shook his head, "I wouldn't be so sure about that."

"You know, I bet he really digs me." Genesis watched Lazard's body language. It seemed the guy was humored by the subject. "You should keep an eye out on him. I mean it, he's probably purposely trying to hurt me so that he can spend more time with me."

"And what does he like about you?"

"He really likes overworking himself so that I can give him massages. I've got a magic touch."

Lazard wondered how long Genesis could joke about this, but he saw that Sephiroth was coming. "Oh, here's your prince coming this way."

Sephiroth came into the room and glanced over Genesis before resting his eyes on Lazard. "You have something for me?"

Lazard handed over some papers, "Just things that need your signature, unfortunately."

Sephiroth stared at the papers, "No missions?"

"No, you need your rest."

"I'm fine."

"I'm sure you are," Lazard remarked. "You should be happy to get some time off."

Sephiroth didn't respond as he glanced through the papers. He didn't like signing anything because usually it was selling his soul off to some weird group he didn't know. "What are all of these?"

"It confirms that you allow photos of you to be published to the public. Also a confirmation on the release of information. The usual."

"We do this every single year."

"That's right, you should be expecting it by now."

Sephiroth signed them all quickly and handed them back. "There."

Genesis watched him carefully before noticing what was off about him. "Did you get any sleep last night?"

Sephiroth glanced at him. Guh. Seeing Genesis just put him in a bad mood. "No."

Genesis looked over at Lazard, "You see that look he's giving me? That's the same look he gave me before he blasted my arm."

Lazard noted the look carefully in case he was ever on the receiving end of Sephiroth's hatred. "Perhaps you should go to bed?"

"Good idea, I haven't tried that ever since I got back," Sephiroth snidely remarked.

"Oh _damn_ you're cranky," Genesis commented, "You should do something to calm yourself like…pet kittens or eat food or something."

"That fixes nothing."

"It'd make you less snappy," Genesis pointed out. "Eating usually does help put people in a better mood."

"I'm not hungry."

Genesis gapped, "What? That can't be true."

Sephiroth glared but didn't reply.

"You must be really sick. You know what would fix that?"

"You dying?"

"I'm sensing some anger. Weird, considering you've mutilated me twice. Haven't you got your share of hatred out on me already?"

"Sorry, I was making up for the times that you _set my pants on fire_ or did you forget about that?"

Lazard watched this unfold. These two had the weirdest arguments…

"Oh, trying to even the score? You were fine afterward, you could still walk."

"Yes, and you could still talk, unfortunately, and I'm certain with the amount of mako you're taking you can use your hand."

"Well let's see…" Genesis held up his bandaged arm and flipped Sephiroth off, "Yeah, it is working."

Lazard stepped in before Sephiroth could react, "Let's not get belligerent, boys. You both are obviously still shaken up from your time on the mission. Taking it out on each other isn't going to fix anything, though. You need to talk it out and be less…snide with each other."

"He wants us to kiss and make up," Genesis remarked. It struck a nerve with Sephiroth.

"I've got better things to do—"

"Sephiroth!" Lazard hollered. "You're not leaving until this is fixed, and you're not getting any missions until I think you're better, which I can make sure is a long, long time."

Sephiroth wished he could break both of their necks and leave but he decided to just get it over with. "Fine. What do you want me to do?"

"Sit down," Lazard ordered. He watched Sephiroth take a seat. "Okay. Now you two are going to sit in here for the rest of the day."

"How does that solve anything?" Sephiroth growled.

"It will, just give it time."

Genesis wondered how the hell this happened. He didn't want to sit here the entire time! Surely they could find a way to get out of this. "What else should we do?"

"Talk to each other."

_That's easy, I can talk us out of this if Sephiroth cooperates._ "Okay. Sephiroth, what were you going to do today?"

"Not talk to you," Sephiroth grumbled.

"Oh I see. You should have just taken some pills or something to get some sleep."

Sephiroth glanced at him before going back to staring at the stacks of papers before him.

"Or at least talk to the doctor or something." Sephiroth kept silent. "Oh really, don't say too much Sephiroth, not like speaking up might help solve this situation or anything," Genesis sarcastically muttered.

"If you just shut up it would solve itself, too."

"Why are you so pissy at me? I didn't do anything. I made a few jokes and you make it seem like I pissed on your mother's grave or something! Why can't you just cram a tamp and stop being so moody?"

Sephiroth glared, "Excuse me?"

"You heard me. You bring your own shitty moods onto yourself and then you push it onto everyone else."

"Yes, you're right, I brought everything onto myself."

"That's not what I meant," Genesis argued. "You get so defensive over the littlest things."

"Of course, the little things are what bother me the most, not anything else that has happened recently."

"I think I know why everyone doesn't want to be around you. It's not because they're afraid, it's because you're such a bitch."

Sephiroth snapped at him, "Okay, I get it, I'm the problem. I was put on this planet to make everyone else miserable because I make myself miserable."

_God damn, he makes it really hard to deal with him. I don't want him to get so defensive but I feel bad if I pinpoint him as the issue. No one likes to be told they're being a problem, and especially for Sephiroth! He's gone through a lot recently, he deserves a break…_ "I don't mean it like that…"

"You're just saying that because you're afraid to offend me."

"No, I think you're just putting it into bad terms."

"Then tell me what you really mean."

_I'm not even sure anymore. He's just in such a shitty mood it makes it hard to talk to him without offending him._ "I think that you're being hard on yourself and because of that you're being hard on everyone else. You don't want anyone to know what's bothering you, so you make it a big deal but in a way that everyone would rather avoid you than ask what's wrong."

Sephiroth continued to stare at the paper stacks as if they were more interesting than what Genesis had to say. Though he was actually contemplating what Genesis was saying. He did do what he said, because he didn't want anyone to bother him. He got annoyed when he was bothered. "I don't see the problem."

"It's completely counterproductive. You should just say what's bothering you."

"I don't want to share information with the whole world, thank you very much."

"Then tell your friends?" Genesis saw the look Sephiroth was giving him. "What? All you'd have to do is 'Genesis, I'm in a bad mood and I need to get stuff off of my chest' and I'd listen to you."

Sephiroth sighed before glancing over at the redhead, "Okay. You want to know my problem? You're the problem."

"Awesome," Genesis responded, "How am I the problem?"

"Think very carefully, I'm sure it'll come to mind."

Lazard looked up from his work at the two wondering what happened but chose not to speak up. As long as the two talked he was assuming that they'd figure out their own problems and they'd be friends by the end of the day.

_Is Sephiroth referring to last night? Maybe he is. Oh man, if he's pissed about being kissed…But what should I do or say about that? I can't say anything right now in front of Lazard. Maybe I can cover it up?_ "Are we talking about the last 24 hours?"

"Yes."

"Right, right. What part didn't you like?"

"What do you think?" Sephiroth grumbled. "Everything."

Genesis laughed, "Aw, really? I could have sworn I saw you contemplating it."

"Not in a million years."

"I can wait."

Lazard glanced up again, "I hope this fight isn't about something illegal."

Genesis shook his head, "Oh no." _I can lie, can't I? Not like Sephiroth cares._ "We hired a male stripper to perform for Sephiroth. The Legendary Hero was ecstatic."

"I hope you didn't bring him here," Lazard remarked rather unhappy.

"No, no. It was somewhere else. You see, everyone pitched in for it. And then the more gil we gave the guy the crazier he'd perform. So me being rich, I made sure to fork over enough to get some real action going on and Sephiroth was not pleased."

Sephiroth didn't know what to say. How did Genesis think of these things? "You weren't in my position."

"I've been in that position before, I just went with it."

"That's you."

"You're just uptight. You just need a horde of horny people all over you, your fears will go away. Wait." Genesis thought that over. "Then again you've had bad experiences."

"Yes, thanks for reminding me," Sephiroth sniped.

"At least he looked fucking sexy. You have to admit you liked it."

"About as much as a poke in the eye."

Genesis started to laugh. _That was a good comeback. But I wonder if we're still talking about the kiss?_ "It wasn't a bad experience, at least."

"It was terrible."

"Oh please."

"It kept me up all night."

"Well better that than other things."

"That plus other things. It didn't cure anything."

"Maybe you should have just…gave in and enjoyed it?"

"Don't be ridiculous. Only you could enjoy such things."

"Yes, exactly why I planned it."

"Next time don't make me a part of your plans."

"There's no fun in that."

Sephiroth sighed and looked away from the both of them. "I don't care."

Genesis cracked his fingers and toyed with some of the papers. "Next time it'll be a shit ton of girls, how's that sound?"

"There won't be a next time."

"Why not?"

"Because I said so," Sephiroth stated. "You're too involved with your social life to be a good SOLDIER. This is why you'll never get further in life."

"Because I have a social life? I think you're just saying that because you've been keeping your nose to the grindstone for too long. You haven't bothered to relax at all. Not everyone is going to cause you to lose your 'hero' title because you talked to someone."

"You're too personal," Sephiroth back-lashed. "You act like everyone should be your friend and that's why you can't handle your missions very well. People die all the time, Genesis, you can't save everyone. Just like your group. If you weren't lucky you would have gone down, too."

_He's right. But we've had this talk…about how he's a monster…_ "I'm lucky because I'm used to unpredictable terrain. Just because I get upset that people die doesn't mean I'm any weaker than you. What do you think people are anyway? Pawns to be pushed around and killed? Everyone's got a purpose for living." Genesis was shocked as he realized something. "You know, I don't get why you think people don't matter. Technically, if you applied this to your own life as well, you wouldn't be existing because of your parents."

Sephiroth felt completely astonished that he'd say that. "Don't—"

"No, I think you need to hear it. Your parents could have thrown you in a dumpster and that'd be the end of that. Another life gone. Who cares? Well someone does. That's why you're here still. Anyone could have just sent you off to an orphanage and be done with you, but they didn't. You have value. Everyone does. You need to think about everyone that way. How am I to trust you to watch my back when you think that I'm just another number? You'd be the last person I'd want to get stuck with in that situation." Genesis hesitated. "Your problems are about the way you view things. If you keep thinking your comrades are just like your enemies…then you might as well be killing both."

Sephiroth didn't respond for awhile as he let it all set in. He could see Genesis's point and he couldn't deny that it was true, as much as he wanted to. Yet it still didn't fix one problem. "I might be too impersonal, but I still think that you take it overboard."

_He just doesn't want me to like him. How do I do that?_ "I'm just trying to do what I think is right."

"Is personal satisfaction really all that right, though?"

"If it doesn't hurt anyone else, I don't see how it could be a bad thing."

"So you're saying if your personal decisions affected someone negatively that you'd stop and change?"

_Is he saying…that I need to change and to back off? But…_ "I don't know. As much as I'd like to say I would…I have no doubt that what I want would get in the way of what is good for everyone else."

"How very selfish," Sephiroth remarked lightly.

"Not unless it does benefit someone…" Genesis replied back.

Sephiroth looked at Lazard finally, "We've talked long enough. I'm leaving."

Lazard watched Sephiroth get up to leave and he didn't stop him. "You boys play nice now."

Genesis got up as well and moved to leave the office. _I wonder if Sephiroth will want to talk more about last night? It's hard to get good answers out of each other when Lazard is in our presence…but now we can speak freely._ Genesis kept walking, moving for his room and noticed Sephiroth got into the elevator as well. _Should I say something?_ "Are you going back to bed?"

"Yes."

"Well…" Genesis felt lost for words. "Would you feel bothered if I checked on you later tonight?"

"Do what you want."

_Eh. That doesn't sound assuring. Whatever, he didn't say no and that's all that matters._ Genesis left the elevator and went back to his room to find Angeal in there. "Angeal, I wondered where you were this morning."

Angeal smirked at his friend's worries. "I had a few things I had to go over with some people. What were you doing?"

"Telling Lazard about my mission. Sephiroth came in and we kind of fought but everything got settled."

Angeal nodded his head, "Okay."

"The fight was sort of pointless. He was just in a really cranky mood and he snapped at us and I was trying to talk him out of it all. He's going to try and sleep, but who knows if that will work."

"And I'm guessing you offered to check in on him."

"Yeah, and he said that was fine."

Genesis sat down on his bed and noticed Angeal was being rather quiet. "What?"

"Nothing."

"Did I do something wrong?"

"No?" Angeal remarked. "You did fine."

"Oh…okay." Genesis still wasn't sure why he was being quiet, but he didn't like it. "Something on your mind?"

Angeal shrugged, "I don't know." The man turned his eyes over to Genesis before giving his usual smirk. "We should go drinking tonight."

Genesis laughed, "Okay. What made you want to do that?"

"Well, considering we really shouldn't be it makes the risk that much better, and besides…I just got back, I need to have something relax me."

"Sounds like a plan."

"And you know, you should invite Sephiroth."

Genesis wondered how that would go over. "I don't think Sephiroth drinks."

"All the more reason to bring him."

"I think he'd tell me to go away and he'd lock his door."

"Naaaah," Angeal replied, "He'll come along. Trust me. I've got the feeling that he will. You said he was having trouble sleeping, right?"

"Yeah, the mission was really rough for him."

"He'll come along. Tell him some booze will help him get to sleep. A tired man will try anything."

"Okay…I'll give it a shot. Did you want to do anything else today?"

"Sure, let's go eat."

Genesis got up and followed Angeal out of the room when his phone beeped. He pulled it out and checked to see who it was. The fangirls. Someone wanted to know if it was him in the picture. He waited for it to load before seeing Sephiroth carrying his dead corpse-like body. _Damn, someone got a picture of that? How embarrassing._ He ignored it and put his phone away. "You know what would be nice? A vacation."

"This is your vacation."

"I meant when we work here long enough that we get to go visit home! Wouldn't that be great?"

Angeal nodded, "I wouldn't mind. But I thought you were the one who wanted to get away from Banora?"

Genesis shrugged, "Yeah, I did…but it's times like these when I feel like crap that I wouldn't mind having mom make me food and pamper me to death."

His friend snickered, "Poor baby."

"Shut up. You're thinking the same thing."

"I can handle myself. But yes, it would be nice to see my mom again. She'd probably complain that I lost weight or something and try to pound back on the weight by making her famous goulash."

Genesis loved her goulash. Banora apples didn't even compare to her goulash, it was that good. "You're making me really hungry."

"Good, that's why we're going out to eat."

They made their way to a restaurant and ordered some food, going over some memories of Banora while they waited to eat. When their food arrived Angeal decided to bring up a different subject. "So are you enjoying your time with Sephiroth?"

"Um…sometimes," Genesis commented before taking a sip of his drink. "He can be really tough to get along with at times. But I think that's because he gets easily annoyed. And you know me…"

"Annoying as ever," Angeal stated.

"Thanks."

"You're welcome. You know, I've heard some interesting rumors about you and him. Not that I believe them or anything…"

Genesis toyed around with his food wondering what could have been said about him. "What rumors?"

"That you two…" Angeal glanced about the place to make sure no one was listening. "Are sleeping together."

"What? No. You know, someone asked me that on my mission. I don't get why people assume those things. Sephiroth's not like that." Genesis could feel Angeal staring at him. He looked up. "What?"

"And you are?"

"Well no one knows me, they could assume that. But they've all been around Sephiroth, it wouldn't make sense for him to start being a slut now."

"Depends. Meeting the right person can make anyone weak kneed."

"Oh please, Angeal, don't tell me you think it's possible."

"I'm not saying you and Sephiroth are possible, but the situation itself is. And anyway, I already told you I didn't believe it. I just think that you should watch yourself. Enough rumors get around it could cause you and Sephiroth some serious problems."

Genesis shook his head, "I don't…I don't get it."

"Basically if the media catches wind they might actually start believing it."

"I get that…just…why would anyone bother making stuff up like that?"

"They're all bored. They have to pick on someone."

"I guess." Genesis rubbed at his brow before going back to eating. They were silent for awhile as they ate the delicious food, but Genesis was extremely bothered that the rumor was still going around. Then again, the people he told had all died… "I wonder if Sephiroth knows…"

"No idea. I could mention something to him if you want."

"Yeah it'd be weird if I told him, wouldn't it?"

"A little, he'd probably tell you to stop bothering him."

Genesis tried to think of ways to disprove it all, but he didn't know how. "Maybe since the three of us are all on hold right now we could hang out together and people would get the picture that we're just friends? And…you know, maybe they're just thinking that because I go to his room to bother him. I could always...suggest getting out more often?"

"It might help."

"You know, no one would think these things if he hit on girls more often. I think that's his problem. He doesn't know how to act, or play the field."

Angeal laughed, "I think that's why they assume you're the whore that's tainting our great hero."

_Oh damn, he's right. Man, I don't even know how to act around anyone anymore. The media is watching, SOLDIER, Lazard…it's like everyone is judging me for being myself. I don't know if I should act like I don't care for Sephiroth or just straight up say that I'm in love. Everyone would freak…but…why do I always have to hide everything?_ "I'm fine with being the whore I guess. Better than anyone saying Sephiroth's some secret prostitute."

"Very true, you are pretty frisky with everyone."

"Exactly, I'll get the blame and it'll spare him from telling me to fuck off."

Angeal thought of something and his smirk came playfully across his lips, "Oho…I just thought of something you could do."

"What?"

"Tonight we're drinking. Why don't you hit on everyone? You usually do that, but they'll see that you're hardly interested and being playful. Besides, you could freak a few people out. You're good at that."

_Whoa. Why didn't I think about that?_ "I love your brain."

"I really shouldn't give you ideas, but I always like to see you make a fool of yourself."

"At least I entertain someone."

Angeal went to take a drink, but he hesitated and said more to himself than anything, "Oh, it'll be entertaining…"

OoOoOoOoOoO

"Just go ask him," Angeal remarked as nighttime had finally come. Genesis was standing around trying to get Angeal to go ask instead. "You said you'd check up on him."

"Well yeah, but I don't think I'd be a good convincer in making him drink. You're better at those things!"

"Oh please. Just go," Angeal shoved Genesis out of the room. "You'll do fine, trust me."

Genesis sighed and went down the hallway. He knocked on Sephiroth's door before opening it slowly, "Sephiroth?" He found Sephiroth lying in bed staring at the ceiling. "Hey, did you get any sleep?"

"No."

"Oh…well. Angeal and I are going to go out and wanted to see if you wanted to come along with."

Sephiroth slowly looked over at the redhead. "What exactly are you two doing?"

"Just partying a little bit. You know, I bet if you got out whatever energy left in you you'd get to sleep. Why not waste it with us?"

Sephiroth wasn't sure if he wanted to go through with it, but he was desperate to get some good rest. He got up and nodded, "Okay. Give me five minutes."

Genesis closed the door and went back to his room to tell Angeal. "You're right, he's begging for rest, he's actually going to come along."

"Told you. I saw him this morning and man…I didn't think anyone could look that exhausted, but I guess it's possible. Now we'll witness the workings of Sephiroth when he's partying."

Genesis laughed, "Pff, he'd probably be the silent type that just drinks a lot by himself."

"I guess we'll be the first ones to find out."

It didn't take Sephiroth long to come out to join them. He didn't look enthusiastic at all, but by the time they got to their destination it was a whole different story. The person checking IDs in the front didn't even bother with doing it to them once they saw Sephiroth. And once they sat down it felt like girls just flocked them. Genesis wasn't so surprised about that, but what Sephiroth did. He motioned for one of the girls to come closer and she did. He then whispered something into her ear that Genesis nor Angeal could hear and they saw him slip something to her. She went off only to come back with three other girls, each carrying enough drinks to kill a horse.

_What is he doing? I thought he didn't like having this much attention. Is he trying to make a statement or something?_ Genesis kept watching intently as the girls swarmed the 1st class SOLDIER like a bunch of fruitflies that had found a snack. One clung to his back, two to his sides, and the girl he gave gil to got the prized spot of his lap. Angeal and Genesis watched as what had been Sephiroth was mostly a mountain of scantily clad girls and booze. They were so focused on the weird predicament that both had forgotten about their plan for Genesis to be a big flirt. _Seriously, I don't get this._ As much as Genesis wanted to be jealous of Sephiroth getting all the action, he was also jealous that the girls were allowed to be on him like that. He wasn't allowed to…

He quickly ordered some drinks from a topless woman and as soon as he got the glass he started to down it.

Angeal, on the other hand, took his time with his drinks and watched the strippers that were before him before he brought up conversation to Genesis. "Hey, did they ever tell you when you were going back on missions yet?"

Genesis shook his head as the burning sensation of the alcohol he had guzzled started to kick in its wonderful after effects. "No idea. Why?"

"I'd hope that at some point they'd allow us to team up. I hate how they split us everywhere, especially when we know who we work well with."

"Could always suggest it to the Director," Genesis remarked before glancing from the woman before them to the mob that was occupying Sephiroth. His eyes went back to Angeal. "Guy uses woman like the way he puts on sunblock."

Angeal started to laugh, "Yeah, he does. Don't get so jealous."

"I'm not. More curious than anything else."

Angeal watched his friend take another shot of alcohol and smirked at the face he made. "Curious about what? How he got all the girls? It's like pigeons. You throw crumbs on the ground and a swarm will come, hoping to get more."

"You made me think of harpies."

Angeal snorted, "No doubt about it, I'm sure they're all like that. I can't wait until someone pickpockets him."

"I don't think he ever carries anything with him. People see his face and they recognize him. Wish I could do that."

"When you speak people recognize you. They hear your voice and think 'well shit, I've got to get out of here Genesis is coming!'"

"Thanks," Genesis growled. "You're such a great friend." He picked up his glass and started to down it as quick as he could.

"Don't slam them too hard. We should see Sephiroth get drunk first. Won't that be great?"

Genesis hadn't thought of that. The Legendary Hero gulping down alcohol to the point he's tumbling over chairs would be the best thing to see in his life. "Oh my Goddess…" Genesis turned his eyes to his friend. "We have to get him drunk. I will not be able to sleep until I see this."

Angeal glanced back and noticed the girls were indeed taking their time feeding him whatever drinks they had brought with them. He casually glanced back at the woman who was twirling about on the pole. "Oh don't worry. I think he'll be getting there before the hour is up."

As time progressed and the two friends wasted their time by paying for lap dances and other enticing moves from the women above, they kept their eyes out on Sephiroth's state and the girls he was with. Genesis felt like he had witnessed something weird like this before, and then remembered that it was like the way a lion had control over all the lionesses. He'd bait one with some slightly seductive look and they'd eat it all up and act out on it, but never did he allow for it to go too far. Though he had noticed that the girl's got their hands in places he had wished he could put on Sephiroth without getting hurt in return. He'd be surprised if there was a place on the man that wasn't touched by the harem of women.

But indeed, as Angeal had predicted, Sephiroth was getting further from his usual stony ways and letting the riskier and friskier business happen. Angeal had been keeping a better watch than Genesis since the man had wanted to make sure Sephiroth didn't do anything that would tarnish his reputation as a Hero. Sure, unwinding was acceptable, but getting so drunk that he became a slut would really knock hard against Shinra's support. And as much as he wanted to see Sephiroth get to relax, he knew that the Director and the others were looking at Sephiroth to be a perfect prototype for all SOLDIER operatives. To never party, to always take missions seriously, to not get involved with promiscuous people…

Angeal just had a bad feeling that Sephiroth had always avoided everything because of the weight he carried on his shoulders.

It got to the point where Angeal moved over to Genesis to make a few comments on the girls' conduct. "I think they've gone far enough. Besides, you're getting trashed and I need help getting Sephiroth back to his room without him looking like an idiot. We should leave."

Genesis nodded slowly before he glanced over at the silver-haired man. "You just have to convince him to go."

Angeal glanced back at the group of women wondering how to do that. He pulled out his phone and sent a text to Sephiroth, but he signed it as Lazard. If the guy was drunk enough he wouldn't be able to tell the difference.

The girls all made a 'Oooh!' noise as they felt the buzzing in Sephiroth's pocket go off. The 1st class SOLDIER fiddled with pulling it out and flipped it open wondering what could be so important at a time like this? He saw the message and noticed it was hard to read. "Emergency…" was what caught his eye, and Lazard's signature. His adrenaline kicked in and he stood up, practically knocking the girl on his lap onto the floor. He held onto her for a minute before turning around and setting her into the other girl's lap. "I have to leave."

The girls all pouted and cried over him going, but it was a total victory for Genesis and Angeal as they followed Sephiroth out of the bar and back into the streets.

"Whoa, slow down there, stallion, you're not in the right state of mind to be dashing off like that," Angeal called out and grabbed Sephiroth's arm.

"Lazard needs me—"

"No he doesn't," Genesis replied. "It was a false message."

"How would you know? You don't know what it says."

Genesis nodded, "Yeah I do, I watched Angeal send it to you."

Sephiroth stopped at the Headquarters front steps and pulled out his phone again, going through his messages and did notice it said Angeal. His eyes turned to Angeal wondering what that was all about. "I don't get it."

Angeal smirked. He was expecting a beating, not something like this. "It's okay, Sephiroth, you drank a lot you should probably get to bed anyway."

Sephiroth put his phone away and walked up the steps with him, the adrenaline went way down and he did realize he was a bit tipsy. "How much did I drink?"

"Enough for the three of us," Genesis answered. "You'll be feeling it in the morning."

They moved up the stairs and into the front desk area. The lights were still on but no one was around. The stair lights were off, giving the stairs a foreboding air about them. Genesis could only assume to ward off any strangers that were walking around. As they moved up them Sephiroth ended up leaning against Genesis, as if the work was too much for him. But once at top Sephiroth moved for the elevator.

"I wouldn't go in that if I was you," Angeal warned.

"Why not?"

"You're filled with alcohol and you want to use an elevator? You'll blow chunks."

"Will not."

"Will too."

"Will not!"

Genesis snorted, "Okay, Sephiroth, you think you can handle it you can do it but we're taking the stairs." He didn't want to risk hurling up what he had just took in. Then again, it'd probably be better for his system to get rid of it all. Oh well.

"Whatever," Sephiroth remarked and looked at the elevator as the other two moved up the stairs.

Genesis jabbed Angeal and smirked at him, "He's trashed, it's funny."

"Imagine the terrible things you could do to him."

"Oh man…you're giving me some really great ideas!"

Angeal chuckled, "Good, good. Be sure to take pictures." They heard noise from behind them and saw Sephiroth standing at the end of the steps. "Something wrong?"

"What floor do we live on again?"

Genesis smiled, "Maybe you should click all the buttons until you find one that's good?"

Sephiroth almost turned to go do that before he stopped. "That doesn't sound…helpful."

"It'd help you vomit, that's for sure," Angeal replied.

"You guys are jerks."

Genesis almost laughed. Did Sephiroth just use 'jerks'? That was priceless. "Come on, just walk with us."

Sephiroth went up the stairs, drunkenly swaying a bit as he got closer to them. It seemed the adrenaline rush had made him sober, but now the alcohol was taking its full affect on him. They got up to their flight and Genesis looked at Sephiroth who seemed pretty tired. "Going to bed, I assume?"

"Yes."

Genesis looked over at Angeal and leaned into his friend, "Go get the duct tape. I've got an idea."

Angeal wondered what the boy was thinking but had a feeling it would not benefit Sephiroth. He slipped away without Sephiroth noticing to gather up the adhesive weapon. Meanwhile, Genesis helped the Hero into his room. "I feel terrible," Sephiroth muttered as he held his head. "My stomach hurts."

Genesis looked over at the door and back at Sephiroth, a lustful sensation came back over him. _Not right now…later._ "Just get ready for bed, okay? I'll make sure you get in bed safely."

Sephiroth moved to the bathroom to prepare when Angeal came in with a large roll. "Think this is enough?"

Genesis nodded, "Yeah, maybe. Depends on how much surface area I want to cover."

"Dare I ask what?"

"You don't know?" Genesis noticed Angeal had no clue. Then again, there were so many things one person could do with duct tape. "I'm going to wrap it around his body and then tape him to the bed."

"Cruel, but funny. Do you need help?"

"Yeah, definitely."

Sephiroth exited the bathroom after awhile and he got into bed. "I'm in."

Genesis nodded, "All right. Good night, Sephiroth." He turned the lights off and together the two waited for awhile until Sephiroth had passed out. They went over and quietly lifted up Sephiroth and pushed his hair out of the way. While Angeal held him in awkward positions Genesis wrapped the duct tape at the top of his chest on downward, tightly making an entire suit of it around him practically. Genesis taped Sephiroth's hips next and kept the guys legs together in a massive duct tape cast. Quickly he moved to Sephiroth's arms and wrapped them together as well, them duct taped them to the headboard making sure that it was secure. Then together they taped Sephiroth to the actual mattress.

"I think that's good…when he wakes up he'll be flipping shit for sure," Angeal remarked.

Genesis started to take pictures and noticed Angeal yawn as well. "All right, let's go."

Angeal moved out the door and Genesis started to follow. _Now I just have to get back in there…just for awhile…_ "Oh, I've got another idea."

Angeal glanced at him, "What?"

"I think I'll go draw all over him."

Angeal snorted, "Try not to wake him. I'm going to bed."

"All right. I won't be long." Genesis slipped back into the room and looked at the slumbering 1st class SOLDIER. _Oh man…when he wakes up he'll be so pissed…oh well._ Genesis slowly brought himself on top of his victim and took a moment to just stare at Sephiroth's unmoving face. His lips were slightly twisted into a smile, as if his dreams were humoring him. His long eyelashes showed up well against his pale skin, and Sephiroth's silver hair pooled around him. With care Genesis brought his fingers through the long locks, taking in the scent of Sephiroth's hair and trying so hard to imprint it into his mind. Yet his hunger was for Sephiroth's lips. Their sultry softness called to him yet he was unsure if he should kiss him. He wanted Sephiroth to be awake, to enjoy the kiss…

Genesis went forth anyway and kissed him, only to find that Sephiroth grumbled a bit and turned his head away from him. _Even in his sleep he denies me._ Genesis glanced at the visible neck now exposed for him. _Might as well leave a mark. Could always blame it on the strippers._ He kissed the soft flesh and gently bit his companion. Sephiroth grumbled again, but there was a slight laugh to it, as if he was being tickled by the contact.

When Genesis finished and found Sephiroth's pale neck had already started to bruise he felt victorious and prepared to leave. He wanted to talk, but he supposed that once Sephiroth was finished being angry over being taped to his bed that they'd have plenty of time to chat. He removed himself from the duct taped figure and finally left the room. Angeal was already passed out.

_I suppose…I'll just have to wait._

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

Lazard was getting rather impatient. Sephiroth had been begging for missions or to do something, and now that he thought he could allow the man to do an easy mission he wouldn't answer his messages or return his calls. He was even surprised to find that the silver-haired man had not come to his office. By now it was the afternoon and Lazard was far from pleased that he was being ignored. He wondered if there was a reason to Sephiroth's madness so he sent for Genesis instead. That man always hung around him, he might have an answer as to where the Hero was at.

When Genesis entered looking rather nonchalant Lazard got right down to business. "Genesis, I've been trying to contact Sephiroth all morning but he hasn't picked up at all. Do you know where he's at? Or at least what he's doing?"

Genesis shook his head, his brow creasing with worry. "No. That's weird that he's ignoring you. Then again, I wonder if he slept in?"

"Sephiroth, sleeping in? I don't think that's possible."

Genesis shrugged, "Last night he went drinking, he might just have a hangover and doesn't want to face you."

"He went drinking?" Lazard could hardly believe this.

"Yeah."

"He's not even old enough to drink yet."

"Well yeah…but that doesn't stop anyone." Never stopped Genesis, at least.

The blonde rose up from his spot and pushed his chair in. "Then I will go into his room and see how he's doing." Lazard went out of the room and Genesis followed him for awhile. "I can't believe he'd be that irresponsible."

Genesis shrugged, "He has reasons to drink I suppose. Couldn't fall asleep and probably wanted to get rid of those haunting images he had on his last mission."

"There are better methods than drinking, though." Lazard arrived on the floor and went past a few operatives that were curious at seeing Lazard on their floor. The man stopped at Sephiroth's door and knocked on it loudly. "Sephiroth!"

Sephiroth was lying in there completely tangled and pissed off that he was stuck. He just remembered waking up and he couldn't move. His phone had been going crazy all morning and he was feeling really sick, plus he had to piss. Though, hearing the Director's voice was the last thing he wanted to hear. "Yes?"

Lazard was surprised to hear Sephiroth respond. "What are you doing in there that's more important than answering my calls?"

Good question. "You don't want to know."

Lazard opened the door anyway and was prepared to give him a verbal slapping, but when he saw the ridiculous tied up figure he lost his temper. "Um…."

"Could you cut this off of me?" Lazard was staring at Sephiroth's ridiculous position, the tape had been moved above and strained, but it still held fast on the man lying before him. Lazard turned to look at Genesis for help and noticed the redhead was doing his best not to laugh. Had he been a part of this?

"Genesis, could you…help?"

Genesis moved into the room and pulled out a knife, slicing at the tape that bound the figure. Yet as soon as he did Sephiroth stared at him with quite a dirty look. "What?"

"You were a part of this, weren't you?"

"No, I wasn't."

Sephiroth chose not to go further with the fight and was so glad to be able to open his legs once Genesis cut the tape down the middle. He got up and pulled off what he could before going to the bathroom.

Lazard stared at the mess of duct tape on the floor and bed before bringing his attention to Genesis. "All this from drinking?"

Genesis shrugged, pretending he had no part in it. When Sephiroth came out looking very relieved he started to peel the rest of the tape off of himself. "I'm assuming you were the one calling repeatedly?" The question was directed at Lazard who nodded accordingly.

"Yes, I had a small mission you could have gone on, but I suppose it's no use now. You should know that it's really hard to work with operatives who participate in drinking and—"

"I know," Sephiroth sniped at him. "As if I don't regret it right now."

"Well I'm sure next time you will realize that instead of drinking that you'll turn to different methods of passing your time."

"It was a quick and cheap way to get some sleep," Sephiroth quipped back. "Stop badgering me about it. I understand that you're disappointed that someone of high authority like myself would stoop so low as to go to a bar."

"Underage, even."

"Whatever. Go find someone else."

"I'll have to. Don't do anything stupid while you're resting today." Lazard left the man with Genesis.

"Do you need help with all that?" Genesis remarked as he pointed at the tape.

"You did it, didn't you?"

"Yeah, I did, the idea came to Angeal and I and we thought it'd be funny."

Sephiroth shook his head as he tore off the remaining piece, his skin splotched red here and there from where it irritated his skin. "No, not the tape."

Genesis was unsure of what he was getting at. "Do what, then?"

Sephiroth pushed back his hair and pointed at the bruised marks on his neck. "That."

_Oh shit. I didn't notice because he had it covered. Haha, probably a good thing Lazard didn't see, eh?_ "What makes you assume I did that?"

"Because those girls didn't do it and I was awake during that," Sephiroth snapped at him. "You did this when I was passed out. What else did you do?" His harsh words made Genesis regret ever bothering him. It wasn't like he meant any harm!

"I didn't do anything beyond that. Chill, Sephiroth, I was tipsy myself, but I knew your boundaries."

"Well obviously you don't because this wouldn't have happened! You deliberately got me to go out so that you could mess with me. I know you, Genesis, that's all you think about is a new way to get to me. Why can't you just give up? Is it really that hard for you to understand that I don't like you that way nor do I want you acting on me like that? Now you know why I hurt you back on our mission. You never listen to me!"

_Damn, I really set him off this time. And it's not like I want to joke my way out of it, as much as I'd like to. But what to do?_ "I-I'm sorry."

"No you're not."

"Yes, I am. I don't mean to upset you about it…I…I don't know what I was thinking. I wasn't even going to invite you to drink, Angeal suggested it because he said you looked stressed. I didn't think you'd go anyway. And I really didn't mean to act like that, I just…I don't know. It's not like you believe me anyway." Genesis felt so embarrassed and rejected. But he knew that the war was far from over.

"You know what I don't understand? Why it takes you this many times to get through to you about what you can and can't do."

Genesis felt like Sephiroth was rubbing it in his face now. Yet he didn't say anything as Sephiroth riled on him, as if allowing the man to let it all out would somehow make the situation better.

"It's as if you don't realize the first few times you're rejected. As if whatever happened previously was a dream you had and that when you wake up you can act the same way you were before. You joke and act like a complete imbecile even when I tell you that you're bothering me. Are you really that stupid? I don't think you are, but you keep acting it." Sephiroth took some time to regain himself before he let out his last comment. "Get a grip of yourself and stop acting like a fool. You're here to fight, not to be a hopeless romantic. Either shape up or go back to your parents. Whatever fantasies you've had are now meeting with reality, and it's obvious that they will never happen."

_So that's that. Stay here and feel tormented by these words or go back home and let my wounds heal. I'll choose the latter, it sounds far better than knowing this man is out to make my life miserable. I didn't mean for it to end this way. I knew he had boundaries…but love knows of nothing but the feeling it brings. Love makes it hard to pull from what you're tempted to do and what is right. Love is like a disease, and some of us have it so bad we are like madmen trying to savor a beautiful cure upon our hungered lips. I don't know what I'll do from here, but one thing is certain…I can't stay._

"Sorry," Genesis whispered before he moved out of the room without glancing back. He went straight to his room and shoved a few of his things in a bag, changed into normal attire, and left the building.

OoOoOoOoOoO

The doctor had noticed that Genesis had skipped out on an entire day of coming for his mako. He had sent a message to Lazard and the man had tried to get in contact with Genesis, but was disappointed in finding Angeal answering Genesis's phone.

"Angeal? I'm looking for Genesis, do you know where he's at?"

"I've been looking all day. He left his phone here and the SOLDIER attire."

"What? Did he leave a note?"

"No, nothing that I've found. Frankly I'm worried, he's never gone off like this before without saying anything."

"I see. When was the last time you talked to him?"

Angeal was silent for a minute before he sighed, "Um. Early this morning when we woke up, that was the last."

"Oh, I see. I called him in here during the afternoon." Lazard pondered where he could have gone when his thoughts went straight to Sephiroth. "I think I know someone who has an idea. I'll give you a heads up if I figure it out."

"Thanks."

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

Sephiroth found the message that Lazard had sent him to be rather irritating. He thought that Lazard was finished with him for the day! He went to the Director's office, at such a late hour, too, and noticed the man looked a bit frantic. "Is there something you need, Director?"

"When was the last time you talked to Genesis?"

What was this, some kind of game? It was as if when he wasn't around the guy he was in trouble. Was everyone trying to force that brute on him when he clearly wanted nothing to do with the redhead? "Right after you left we talked and then he left."

"And that was the last you saw of him?"

"Yes. You're not going to reprimand me for not being a better 'friend' I hope, I've had enough lectures for now."

Lazard ignored the sarcasm. "Genesis has gone missing. He left his phone and his armor behind. He didn't leave a note and Angeal has no idea where he's at."

Sephiroth wasn't surprised. "Did you need him?"

Lazard nodded, "Yes. We've been going over his charts and wondered if we could run him through some missions again. We think that he might have regained all of his strength and with that he might be able to become 2nd class, but we can't do that without him being here."

They were thinking of promoting Genesis? "Why? Just because he improved?"

"No, he did save you, as oddly as he did it, he survived the odds and we're thinking that it wasn't just luck."

"I guess it's too bad that he's gone, then."

Sephiroth turned to leave and Lazard snapped his fingers at him to turn back around. As Sephiroth did he could tell that Lazard knew he was a part of the reason why Genesis had left. "What did you do this time? Do you realize that you're acting like a child? Yes, he might be annoying at times but surely you of all people should know to hold your temper!"

Sephiroth now knew what Genesis felt since Lazard was getting riled up. "We fought again. He admitted he had done everything and I snapped. I told him to shape up or go home. He chose to go home. That had no influence from me."

"You snapped at him, of course he went home. He probably felt really bad and you, as I'm guessing is your nature, wouldn't let it go to the point he felt like he'd be better off leaving than staying around."

"And what am I supposed to do about this? Shouting at me won't solve anything."

"If only you could apply that to yourself now then we wouldn't have this problem," Lazard replied. "Genesis needs his mako injections. The longer he goes cold turkey the worse the problem will be. Find him and get him back here before he's a dead man at his mother's door."

Sephiroth sighed. Some mission….

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

_I feel weak and dizzy. It's almost been 8 hours since I left and it doesn't feel like I'm getting very far. Perhaps it has something to do with this odd sickness I've got, the fact that my body feels slowed down, pained, even intolerable at times. Everyone rushes past me as I stand still. I'm seeing double at times, and their words aren't comprehensible. It's like I'm alone in a world full of people._

Genesis felt the heat of the day bask down on him. He was out of Midgar and in a nearby town. He wanted to find a way back to Banora that wouldn't be so closes to Midgar, that way in case Angeal was looking for him the guy wouldn't be able to trace his steps so easily. If Angeal came looking for him he knew the man would find a way to make him turn around and head back home. He couldn't let that happen.

His eyes slowly opened and closed a few times, sitting and waiting for his ride with several others that looked just as enthused as himself. But at last the airship arrived for them and everyone started to gather about, flashing IDs and tickets to get on. He didn't remember doing it, let alone how he got in his seat, but there he was sitting near the window in a haze. He felt like taking a small nap, nothing too long…

He awoke to shouting and screaming. Genesis didn't know how long he had fallen asleep but at the moment it didn't matter. The ship jolted and he felt himself jerk to the side, then he noticed what was going on outside. His heart sank at the sight of another airship making its odd movements beside them. He couldn't help but think that air bandits were absolutely stupid and ridiculous as the job was clearly dangerous, but he wasn't surprised that the one time he needed to get the hell out of a place that he'd be stalled by such things.

"Everyone, please stay calm," the intercom came on, the captain's voice was soothing but no one could listen to him.

"We're going to get killed! I've heard about air bandits, they're blood thirsty!"

"Our children aren't safe!"

Genesis could hear the shouting continue until the whole ship went dark and the roof made an odd crunching noise. His bright blue eyes went up wondering what had happened until he realized that the other ship must have landed on top of them…

A group of oddly dressed men came forth with guns in their hands, snaggletooth smiles arriving on each of their faces.

"All right, ladies and gentlemen, we're going to make this simple and quick. Hand over all valuable possessions and no one gets hurt."

At first no one moved, so frightened of their appearance that they couldn't obey. But as the man began to point his gun at the civilians they started to fork out what they could.

_This isn't right. I can't just sit here and watch them do this. No matter how sick I'm feeling, or the fact that I'm not a SOLDIER. I won't let them get away with this._ Genesis rose up slowly and he felt all the guns point on him.

"Sit down."

Genesis came forward with his sword in his hand, "I thought you wanted some prized possessions? Is a sword too much?"

The man stared at the crimson blade and jeweled handle. His grin came back, "All right, kid, hand it over." The guns still pointed at Genesis as he kept coming closer, though he kept his eyes down. At the last minute he looked up at them directly, blue eyes making the entire lot get a sickening look about them. The leader pulled back a bit, raising his gun higher to point at the redhead. "All right, boy, stay back. Drop it on the ground."

"What's the matter? Scared?"

"Your eyes only mean one thing…"

"And what would that be?"

One from the back of the group whispered, "SOLDIER."

Genesis smiled, "Yes, perhaps. But you shouldn't worry about me so much as _him_."

They all turned around thinking Sephiroth had arrived giving Genesis the easiest upper hand ever. He moved so quickly he hardly felt like he was controlling his own body. His sword made contact with flesh, his wounded arm connected with a few faces, and he felt like he might have used his materia which he forgot to leave behind. But when it was all over the entire group fell over unconscious and Genesis felt the world swirl back into an odd abyss. The people seemed to be cheering, but when he looked at them they were all moving slowly, their voices were slowed down. He felt like he was falling…

The crowd all gasped as Genesis collapsed on the ground. Someone rushed forward to see what happened. "He looks really sick. Someone, go tell the captain we need to land, we need to get him some help!"

OoOoOoOoOoO

It was approximately 12 hours since Sephiroth last saw Genesis. He hadn't found much of anything on where he went. He had searched the airship place but found he wasn't there. He had taken a train, but he had bought 3 tickets to 3 different areas. Sephiroth knew he left Midgar, but which town did he hit?

It wasn't that long ago that Lazard had called him up giving information about air bandits had tried to sack a ship and were all wiped out. At first Sephiroth didn't get the importance until he realized that it was Genesis. "So where is he heading?"

"He's in the hospital, actually. He passed out after the battle. I'm guessing the mako withdrawal is getting worse."

"Where at?"

"Well, the airship landed in Fort Condor rather safely, he must be there."

"Then I'll make my way there."

"Take one of Shinra's rides there, the rest of the places are being shut down for high alert it looks like."

Sephiroth finished with Lazard and quickly went to the exclusive airway. He found some of the Shinra men standing about talking, operatives were mostly arriving back from missions. Yet here he was, late at night, heading out. He didn't remark about his mission, only told where he had to go. No one ever questioned him anyway unless they wanted to blab about it with others.

As Sephiroth sat comfortably in his seat all he could think about though was the possibility of Genesis making 2nd class. Would he be able to do it? Surely he had improved, but he assumed it was too early. He had only one big mission, and it was a menial one at that. There was so much more that he believed Genesis needed to do. Was it because they had lost so many others that Lazard was trying to make up for the numbers? Genesis couldn't be prepared…that man ran away too quickly, was too frightened by the world's gruesome acts and perilous behaviors to make the promotion worthy.

But inside him he felt that guilt, like it was only his own fault that Genesis wasn't gaining that promotion right now. He had wounded the man and driven him away, it was his fault that he wasn't here to show that he deserved the new title. What would become of him anyway? The mako addiction was apparent and an adding factor to why Genesis looked like he was prepared for 2nd class. Yet if Genesis returned would he be able to make a full recovery? He had read stories about mako addiction, how it could kill a man from the symptoms that occurred. Usually these were of normal beings though, not operatives who were introduced to it within their strong bodies. But Genesis…he wasn't all that strong. He felt as if Genesis was blind to true strength and was easily outsmarted until he was almost dead…

Would it be wrong that Sephiroth were to not return with him, or to accidentally bide time to make sure that Genesis didn't get the unnecessary promotion? Yet, if he did so he might permanently cripple his friend.

His…friend. Did he really just think that Genesis was…..

"It might be awhile, sir, I suggest getting some shut eye."

Sephiroth pulled his eyes back to the pilot before relaxing into his seat. That's right. No sense in thinking about it.

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

_As I drift in and out of consciousness I can only feel the intolerable pain and the swirling world around me, like the planet has taken me into its turning force and is trying to knock me loose off of itself. I feel the Lifestream tugging at me, its coils of friendliness, familiarity, yet cold seduction try to pull me from my world into its own. I can't join them yet. But with each waking moment I know it wants to try harder, it wants to place me where I do not belong._

_When I wake in these moments, at first it is nothing but visuals of the room about me. It's hazy, slowly turning sharper as my eyes adjust to the living world about me. Nurses try to talk to me, but their voices aren't saying anything that I can understand. I'm in a strange land, one that should have been familiar but is now lost to my very own eyes and ears. I'm stuck here, wishing I could get up and continue to my journey home so that I can see my mother once more. All that she would want to do is to lay me to rest one last time, if this be my last time to sleep. And my wish as well, to let her take me back in her arms as she has done so many times over the years. As much as I have never bonded fully with my parents, I cannot deny them the love they gave me, nor the love that I gave them. And right now, I could use that loving embrace._

_No. As a quitter such as myself, there are no last wishes to fulfill or to be given. I am to be denied the given rights a real man would have gotten in this time. A real man would speak up, say what he wants and would receive it, but the Goddess has stolen my voice and given me no words to speak but those in my mind. Maybe she's punishing me for my behavior. She has found that I am unworthy of such pleasures, and even wants to banish the thought of giving me a last wish on my deathbed._

_She wants me for herself. And I can't blame her. If I cannot save the Planet because of my foolish behavior, then so let her grasp me in her arms and embrace me for eternity in the dark abyss._

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

Fifteen hours have passed since he last saw Genesis. Why was he counting? Maybe he was counting because Genesis was dying? His time was slowly ticking down while Sephiroth sat there comfortably waiting for the arrival, which would only be within a half hour. He needed to find the correct hospital and also which room he was in. That wasn't very hard, but all the same it could be time consuming depending on the amount of hospitals the city had and who would bother telling him where they were at. Of course, being a 1st class SOLDIER they should just hand over the information easily. Sometimes that wasn't always the case.

"Preparing for landing."

Sephiroth started to stretch his long legs and arms while waiting for his ride to settle back on earth. Close to ten minutes had passed until he pulled himself from the seats and felt the air rush into his hair and awaken him more.

Quickly he went to find information regarding the hospitals, but he need only watch the television that was blaring above in the waiting room.

"As the airship was taken over by bandits, a mysterious figure that was identified as a possible 'SOLDIER' operative had taken matters into his own hands. Bystanders say that he acted quickly and efficiently, and no one was hurt. Unfortunately the 'hero' hasn't been identified as of yet and he is staying at Fort Condor's Mercy Hospital."

"Genesis," Sephiroth muttered to himself. He moved out of the holding area and went to find the hospital from the maps he had. It took him a ten minute walk, but he arrived at the large building that housed the mako addicted 'hero'. And to think they'd use that title with him. Ha. It was reserved for someone like Sephiroth, not a man who dawdled with personal problems like Genesis.

When he got into the hospital he found it busy but not too crowded. He did his best not to call attention upon himself, going forth to a woman at the front desk and calmly asking to see Genesis. "He came in a few hours ago, I presume. He's the man that saved the airship?"

She pulled up the recent list of admitted people and spotted what Sephiroth might be looking for. "You mean 'possible SOLDIER operative'?"

"Yes."

"Room 112. Go down that hallway and to your left."

Sephiroth briskly moved to find Genesis, and easily enough entered in on the room where he was at. The place was stark white and had no healthy glow to it, as if waiting for a man to die just to examine the corpse. As he got closer he noticed how his muscles twitched, but the lethargic movements gave note to a possible paralysis. "Genesis?" He wondered how bad it would be to wake the man, but knew that allowing him to keep sleeping might cause him to silently fall into a coma. Had the doctors not realized their error? Had they not diagnosed him at all and realized that he was a man addicted to mako and needed such an injection? "Genesis, wake up."

The redhead's eyes opened but seemed to have lost their vibrant glow. Now he looked drained of life, the eerie look of health from that toxic substance was gone and had been replaced with a deadly gray shade. But the boy before him gave no response as if he didn't see Sephiroth, let alone hear him. "Genesis, you have to return to Headquarters." Once again, no response, but he assumed that the advanced stages of withdrawal would often push off one's ability to concentrate. "Try to sit up for me, I'll get your stuff and get you discharged."

When Sephiroth left to make the last arrangements and returned, he found Genesis hadn't moved. "Genesis, come on." He pulled him up and found him to be like dead weight. No good in forcing him to walk, it would make returning to Shinra that much more painful. But allowing Genesis to gain more attention was not a part of his intentions. He'd have to cover him somehow…

Sephiroth grabbed up the sheet and wrapped up Genesis quickly, covering the boy's face so as to hide the red hair and discolored eyes. Out he went with him doing his best not to look strange or suspicious. "You'll be home soon enough. It took you longer to escape than it will to get back. Such a pity, hmm? And to think you could have gotten away."

Genesis gave no response in return. "Of course, I'd reveal why we need you back at Headquarters, but I'd hate to spoil the surprise." Why was he bothering in talking to a man who was clearly too far out of his mind to comprehend him?

But as Sephiroth kept walking and holding the twitching figure, he realized he was talking…because he was scared. Scared that he had really doomed Genesis to die. And to a selfish degree. As much as he thought poorly upon everyone's decisions on his way here, he only felt regret now.

"I know what you're thinking…that I'm a poor friend. Maybe…I'm just not fit for the title." Sephiroth thought of his 1st class rank as well. "Either…titles, perhaps."

Upon arrival to their ride Sephiroth found the guy wasn't so pleased to be returning already. "Should have known it'd be a short trip with you. What's with the extra baggage?"

"He's one of ours and he needs medical attention back at Midgar, so I suggest you hurry, understand?"

"Yes, sir."

As Sephiroth waited for the man to prepare the airship he found two of the workers chattering away until they called to his attention. "Hey, Sephiroth, nice bite marks. Whose the lucky lady that landed those on you?"

At first Sephiroth didn't understand at all what he meant by that until he remembered the marks Genesis had left on his neck. Ugh. What a time to be called out upon on such a thing. And what to say? "Why, did you want her number?"

The guys laughed. "No, no, just curious what she looked like."

"Curious to what I like?"

"Perhaps. Haven't seen you with a woman before, it might be a nice sight to see."

"Hmm," Sephiroth replied.

"Unless that's your sex kitten right there. He looks a bit on the sickly side, though. Didn't know you liked them like that."

"I like to pretend that the sick ones are being cured by my very essence," Sephiroth remarked sarcastically. The other two did laugh at the joke, giving Sephiroth some ease and happiness that they didn't take it any other way.

Their pilot came back over to signal they were ready and Sephiroth moved off with the dead-like Genesis in his arms. Into the cramped area they went and together settled down for the ride back home. He sent a quick message to Lazard that they were returning when he felt Genesis slide from his half-assed sitting position into him.

At first Sephiroth felt as though he should push him away, his usual reaction to such things, but when he reached up and touched the bruises on his neck…he wondered how he really felt about it all. Hearing them ask about girls and expecting to see him with some…kind of upset him. Was everyone expecting him to just follow in with what society thought was normal? But that wasn't what he wanted. At least…he didn't want a woman.

"We'll be…home soon."

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Hope you liked this one. It is a bit…out there this time around, but hey…who doesn't like wacky shit?

Please review/comment etc. etc. I'll have another chapter up at some point. I only have one class going on for the month of May and it's all about VAMPIRES so…I shouldn't be too busy to update you guys a few times.

Until next time!


	7. Chapter 7

Another chapter! Hope you like this one, it's filled with fun stuff.

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Two weeks had gone by since Genesis had made it back into Midgar. He was being held in the hospital area for now, the doctors took great caution to try and get him back to a stabilized state and to try to reduce his mako intake. It had been a close call. If Genesis had been out any longer he might not have been able to be saved. Angeal often visited the sickly figure that spent most of his time sleeping. He felt worried for his friend and even took time out of his schedule to call Genesis's parents to let them know how he was doing. The only thing that looked good about Genesis so far was that his arm had healed rather miraculously. Now if only the rest of him could pull from the addiction and do the same…

It was Sephiroth, though, that felt the most guilt about the entire situation. He noticed how often Angeal visited the boy and knew the conversations he had to go through with the redhead's parents. He never thought that a fight like that could end like this. Why did he keep hurting Genesis? What was wrong with him that compelled for him to continue this behavior?

It wasn't the only thing he thought about, though. Genesis had been flirting with him because the guy liked him a lot. What would he feel now that he had caused him this much suffering? How broken or rejected would Genesis act once he left the hospital?

And to think that it was the same as being rejected by a parent. Sephiroth knew that feeling of pain. It had bothered him for years that his parents had decided to not care for him. As if…he wasn't good enough.

Genesis must feel the same.

How could he cause that pain onto someone else? He never wanted anyone to feel the same way he had felt for all those years, but look what he had done! Tarnished the boy to a state of such sickness he couldn't remove himself from bed!

He just didn't want to get involved, but now Sephiroth almost felt like he owed himself to Genesis. Would it necessarily be right for him to…to try to appease the boy by offering himself up? He wasn't even comfortable with the thought, but the guilt felt worse than breaking his personal boundaries. What would someone even do in this situation?

Sephiroth was so deep into his thoughts he didn't hear Lazard repeating his name several times. Finally he snapped to it and looked over at the Director who seemed impatient at his inability to pay attention. "I apologize, what was it that you said?"

"I wanted to know if you were prepared for your mission, but you seem rather sidetracked…again. What is bothering you so much that you can't even focus on your job? Is it about Genesis?"

Sephiroth didn't like the fact that Lazard could guess such things so easily. Why was he associated with caring for Genesis's well-being anyway? Then again, he did care, as much as he didn't want to admit it. "What makes you think that the few times I get distracted it must be about Genesis?"

"Well, considering you weren't having such problems before until you returned with Genesis after your terrible fight, and the fact that he's still recovering, gives me the notion that you're upset or at least thinking about what you've done."

"Am I acting upset?"

Lazard thought that Sephiroth was becoming defensive and hadn't realized that Sephiroth was asking in all seriousness. "Sephiroth, don't act like that. I was just—"

"No, I wasn't trying to be defensive….I was just asking."

"If…you looked upset?"

"Yes."

Lazard wondered why Sephiroth was so curious to know, and why the man hadn't known himself. "As…upset as you ever dare to show me, I suppose. When you dwell on things and avoid talking about it, I assume that it means you are bothered by something."

Slowly Sephiroth gave a small nod, "Then…I must be upset."

What had gotten into him? "So…it is Genesis that is bothering you?"

"Yes and no. The person, not so much, but other things…"

"What you said to him?"

"Do you think that he will...hold it all against me?"

"You mean have a grudge?"

"Perhaps. More of…acting strangely."

"Oh, as in he'd be less friendly toward you, perhaps more frightened or…angered. I can see that it might be possible. At least, that's a normal person's reaction."

Sephiroth didn't like that thought. He never wanted friends, but after gaining them it was hard to let go. "Do you think he's normal?"

"Genesis? Ha. Well, he can be normal at times, but compared to the people I've met he's quite the character."

Then maybe Sephiroth was in luck? Maybe Genesis wouldn't be upset. Maybe…he'd have a chance to set things right…

"Are you afraid that he'll be cold toward you?" Lazard wanted to know what exactly was on Sephiroth's mind, and at that moment it seemed the man was letting his thoughts flow freely.

"I'm….unsure if afraid is the right word."

"But the issue of him being cold is definitely what's bothering you."

"Yes, I think so."

"Well, if you don't want that to happen you must talk to him. And perhaps sooner rather than later. The more time lapses between your confrontation the more he will probably believe that avoiding you is best. At least, that's my opinion. You will do as you wish, I'm sure."

So, he should go talk to him? What to say? Of course he'd apologize, but there were other things he'd like to get out as well. "I see."

"You shouldn't worry, even if he acts odd for awhile I'm certain he'll warm up to you again. Genesis seems like the type to bounce back even after having a fight with someone."

"Of course."

Lazard glanced at the article about Sephiroth on the computer before returning his eyes to the figure before him. "You should head out on your mission soon. If you need me I'll be here." He had exacted his words carefully. Sephiroth was a very fragile person and seemed quite snappy and defensive if people assumed things about him. Was he upset? No, of course he wasn't, why would anyone dare to ask? And if you said you were sorry? He'd get worse. You wouldn't have to be sorry if you hadn't assumed such things. Ah, but when you only spoke and showed no emotion to it, much like the way a robot would to anything, it allowed for Sephiroth to listen carefully and not think anything of it. But Lazard was only human, and imitating robots wasn't a part of his profession. It only made him glad that Sephiroth hadn't questioned him on his last remark.

Yet, seeing Sephiroth move out of the office with his face strewn with worry made Lazard wonder if Sephiroth really was clinging to his friendship with Genesis. It might be possible. The man did get a bit obsessive when things were his…

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Three days after Sephiroth's mission he had summoned up the courage to go see Genesis. It felt like he was on a stealth mission or something, going down to the hospital wing and doing his best to pretend he wasn't there just to see Genesis. He had asked to take a glance at everyone, and the nurse gave him the go-ahead. He'd cover it up with the usual fake blather of 'Lazard wanted to know.' The woman obviously didn't care, and he wouldn't speak more than he necessarily had to.

As he went along the hallways and glanced within the door window to each person, he recognized the slight urgency within him to just bolt from the hospital. He couldn't allow that to happen, he wouldn't submit to his fears of finding Genesis pissed off at him for what he had done. His eyes landed on the sick persons, some had broken appendages, others looked fine. But he hardly let it sink in on who any of them were or why they were there. It wasn't like he cared about them, just Genesis. What should he say to the man? Should he let Genesis speak his mind first? There were too many options, all of which he had no assurance that Genesis would forgive him. It wasn't like a usual mission. This felt much harder.

He slowed down and glanced within another room trying to pretend he was interested in whoever was in there, faking a contemplative face as if he was taking notes on their conditions. He was worried to find Genesis in one of the worse conditions. Was he hurt badly or was he fine? After all of his readings and in-depth researches on the maladies of the world things common soldiers got during wartime, he still couldn't understand mako. It was like a guessing game. Sometimes you picked the death card, and other times you just got an upset stomach. What sort of terrible conditions might haunt the 3rd class boy, especially withdrawal symptoms?

Sephiroth's thoughts almost made him miss the correct door. His eyes caught right on the redhead and found that he was talking to Angeal. Both were laughing and messing around like nothing had ever happened. Genesis's usual smile was there, and even though he looked a bit sickly he still had that glow about him that said everything was all right.

Why…did he bother coming down here anyway? Genesis had Angeal for a friend. It didn't matter what he had to say…Sephiroth was just an accessory, or a side dish to Genesis. Yes, Genesis probably wouldn't mind having Sephiroth around for the fame and glory of having a celebrity for a friend. He imagined Genesis loved flaunting the things he had acquired in life. But that didn't mean anything! Angeal, his all-knowing smile, kindred eyes, loving heart…he was a real friend. That figure that was jabbing at his friend's ribs playfully had the actual heart and ability to be something Sephiroth could never be. And besides, Angeal had never hurt Genesis before. That was something he'd never be able to claim.

He never touched the doorknob, never knocked, never confronted the victim. Instead, Sephiroth left the hospital wing without a word to anyone.

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Genesis signed his release papers and moved out of the stingy hospital room. It was nice to be out of there. In fact, he couldn't even remember how long he had been cooped up on that dingy bed and eating the ungrateful food that they gave him. Paste for the dead, practically. He needed to get back to training and back on missions. Being out for so long would not look good on his records. And anyway, he wanted to start training to get into 2nd class. Sure, he hadn't been on many missions, but that didn't mean he couldn't keep heading toward his goals. Besides, wasn't like he'd get to 1st class any time soon…

"Angeal," he called out into his room that seemed untouched from when he was last in there. He heard clinking and saw the man was shaving in the bathroom. "There you are. I'm free!"

"Seems you are. Feeling good today?"

"Yes, definitely. I'm actually pretty pumped."

Angeal nicked himself and growled at the little trail of blood before he continued on. "You should take it easy, but if you like we could go train together."

"It's exactly what I need. I'm aching for activity."

His dark-haired friend finished up shaving and washed his face clean of the remaining bits of shaving cream. Once he got dressed and grabbed his swords he was prepared for action. "Let's go. I'll try to be easy on you."

"Shut up, I bet I can kick your ass."

"Haha, oh? We'll see about that."

Together they went toward the elevator and got on, Genesis had been following behind Angeal and hadn't noticed who else was on the elevator. When his eyes saw the silver-haired figure his heart dropped to his stomach and a lump formed in his throat. The last person he wanted to see! Why was fate out to get him? Had he cursed himself to be forever engulfed in agony and pain for his decisions? But he realized that Sephiroth hadn't seen them. Or at least…couldn't see them. He had a towel pressed to his eyes that seemed to be covered in some odd blackish goo.

"What happened?" Angeal questioned knowing Genesis wasn't going to speak up.

Sephiroth picked up on Angeal's voice and replied, "I was dealing with poisonous worms and one surprised me."

"That's too bad. Hope your eyes will be okay."

"It's not the first time something like this has happened."

"You should be more careful, then."

"Or Lazard could stop putting me on missions that involve monsters with great spitting skills."

"Yes, or that." Angeal watched it reach Sephiroth's floor. "It's yours. Do you need help?"

"No. Like I said, I've done this before." Sephiroth waited for the doors to open and he swiftly walked out. Not once had he picked up on Genesis's presence, and for once he probably wasn't going to.

When the doors closed Genesis let out a small sigh of relief. Safe. Sephiroth hadn't realized he was in there. But his relief only seemed to cause Angeal to worry, his friend's face screwed up and fixated right on Genesis. Truthfully it made him uncomfortable that Angeal was judging his reaction so harshly. He couldn't help in feeling glad that his tormentor had just left his presence! "Don't tell me you're contemplating avoiding him," Angeal warned.

"I don't see why I shouldn't," Genesis defended himself. "All he ever does is hurt me." And that was the truth, he had the stories to prove it.

"He's like a kitten. He doesn't know what he's doing."

Some kitten, indeed. "He seems pretty talented if you ask me, I think he knows what he's doing."

"Not like that, I meant friends wise. He's never had someone close to him. He's batting you around because he doesn't know his limits. I'm sure he'll apologize to you and will want to make up for his mistakes."

Genesis thought about the analogy. A cat. "Ever wondered why his eyes are so weird?" _Of all times to think about that, why now? I really just want to avoid him for the rest of my life. It's bad enough when I physically hurt, but the emotional agony is a bit much. I really don't need to plague my thoughts with him as well._

"You mean green?"

"No. Catty."

Angeal wondered about it for awhile. "Perhaps he had surgery?"

"I doubt that."

"Well it doesn't seem natural for humans to have eyes like his. I think it's possible that he went in and got them done that way for good reasons. Cat eyes pick up motion far better than humans can, and they see better in the dark. His work is now far more superior compared to a normal human's."

Was that Sephiroth's main advantage in being 1st class? Because he had that slight upper hand he was somehow better than everyone else? "If I wasn't angry at him I'd probably ask." _Pah, if only it was just anger. I wish I could tell Angeal what I really feel. He would comfort my pain, tell me that there's more fish in the sea or something, somehow make me forget of Sephiroth altogether as a hopeful partner._

"You'd ask him if he fucked around with his eyes? What if he doesn't like talking about it?"

"I don't care. He's probably told me worse things anyway. Talking about his cracked out eyes shouldn't faze him."

"Of course, you'd have to talk to him first, you know."

Genesis shook his head, "I don't have to. Besides, if he's dying to be my friend he'll come to me."

Angeal rolled his eyes but followed him anyway to the training room. They pulled out their blades as a few guys were standing around talking. "All right, let's shake things up. Show me what you can do." Their serious conversation was already over, now switching completely toward training. Angeal went into stance, mostly a nonchalant defensive position for now. He knew how Genesis worked and how to best him, it was what he did best. Not only that, but he could tell that Genesis didn't care for the conversation and wanted to move on. Well, he was prepared to move on all right…

Genesis pulled himself into a fencing position, getting his training from the classes he'd taken. A group had gathered to watch the two prepare for battle. The first to act was Genesis, his blade thrust forth and hit against Angeal's before he spun around to make another attack. Back and forth their blades went, clashing and crashing together so that they sparked and sang after each hit. Angeal's standard blade came forth and Genesis leapt backward at the shining steel that was coming at him. Once he landed he leapt again prepared to bring his blade down upon his friend's head, but the brute forced him right over his head when he blocked. Genesis somersaulted in the air and whipped around quickly upon arriving on his feet. He did a backwards somersault and blasted fire at Angeal, then used the wall to force him back at his friend to follow along with the magic. Angeal had slashed the fire out of the way and was surprised to find Genesis coming right at him. Instinctively he put his foot up to kick the man, but Genesis and somehow moved himself so that he literally ran on Angeal's leg, flipped around, and made a slash for the ribs.

The battle continued in heated anticipation while the other's watched at the quick and well thought out moves, everyone's body twitching at the movements of what they believed was the next best move. It wasn't long for Sephiroth to leave the hospital wing with a feeling of refreshment now that he could see and that his eyes weren't hurting. He wanted to see how everyone's training was going, as he assumed that's where Angeal had gone. Perhaps he could ask him how Genesis was doing? He didn't have the guts to check it out while he was in the hospital. But upon arrival on the training floor, he found a group gathering about. But what for?

Sephiroth brought his eyes past the group and toward the two fighting figures only to realize that it was Angeal and Genesis. When did he get out?

Genesis kept thrusting his rapier and watched as Angeal kept moving back and back, sucking in his stomach so as not to get jabbed. He finally got a safe distance apart and he gave a slight chuckle, "Dirtbag," Angeal remarked.

"Just keeping you on your toes," Genesis replied chipper.

Angeal came forth quickly and slammed Genesis's blade aside, grabbed the figure's arm, spun him and threw him into the air. His own blasts of magic soon followed. But Genesis twisted about quickly and sliced through them all. He ran a little bit on the ceiling and dropped down skillfully landing on his feet. "You see that? I ran on the ceiling! That was fun."

"You know what else is fun?" Angeal questioned before sending forth a wave from his blade, "Beating the crap out of you."

Genesis quickly defended and felt himself stammer backwards from the power. "Not this time, Angeal." He sent several blasts of magic forth so that smoke filled Angeal's path of sight. Then through the smoke Genesis appeared and kicked Angeal right in the sternum. The big lug shot backwards and slammed into the wall.

"Ooh, good kick, I'm feeling that one," Angeal praised.

"You'll be feeling this, too," Genesis battled and went to slam his sword for Angeal's head. But Angeal rolled out of the way and Genesis's blade sliced into the wall, getting stuck in the process.

"You were saying?" Angeal countered and went for a few strikes on Genesis, but the boy dodged them by using his stuck sword as a wall until it came out and nearly nicked Angeal in the neck. "Seems this morning is just filled with close shaves, eh?"

"Only for you," Genesis bragged.

Sephiroth continued to watch just like the others. It was almost as if the two before them could only see themselves and not the crowd that had gathered. But their work in swordsmanship was very beautiful, even Sephiroth felt like he should cheer or clap for how well they worked. And to think that he believed they didn't deserve to ever be promoted. But when had Lazard seen them work like this? He didn't believe the man had…

The two continued their artful battle without losing a breath, bantering back and forth in good spirits. The group that had gathered began to clamor with cheers themselves, commenting on swings and jumps that they couldn't do themselves. Not once did the two seem to notice the ruckus and it seemed to draw on Sephiroth more, as if begging for their attention to break from battle only to see how they have moved an audience. It was like actors right before him, so well trained to pretend they were the only ones there, baiting the audience with each step and word.

It kept going until the two had locked blades, a battle of strength, careening to try and push the other back. The group was getting much louder and far less productive that Sephiroth felt that he should step in. "That's enough, all of you should stop gawking and should keep training." Several faces broke from the battle to glare at Sephiroth and his blasted comment. They muttered several things about him trying to ruin the fun and being a fun-hater, but he paid no attention to it. "This isn't a show, get back to work."

Genesis had lost his concentration once he had heard Sephiroth's words and felt himself lose strength in his arms. Angeal's blade came toward him and he almost got smacked in the face until Angeal had let up.

"Good job, that was a nice battle," Angeal exclaimed to his friend, ignoring Sephiroth's break through. He put his arm onto Genesis's shoulder and gave him a rough shake. "Even after all that rest you're still in tip-top shape."

Genesis gave no response while he kept his eyes on Sephiroth. _I don't understand why he had to butt in. So what if people are watching? It's not like they're doing anything wrong. Besides, they might get some pointers from us. They should be allowed to watch a few battles to see how to do it correctly, not just assume that the more they pump iron the better they'll be at wielding a blade. And anyway, I bet he only did it to irritate me. It's not like he has much else to do besides jab at my demeanor and make me feel like shit._ "Would have been nice to finish it properly, but I guess some people like all the attention."

Angeal hissed for Genesis to be quiet since Sephiroth was walking toward them. "Hey, Sephiroth."

Sephiroth glanced at the two before giving a slight nod, "That was quite the battle you showed everyone." All he had to do was act natural. Somehow things would fix themselves…right?

"We weren't expecting an audience," Angeal assured. "Sorry to cause any problems. We're used to fighting out in the open, but doing that in Midgar would probably scare the civilians."

"Yes, it would. Most operatives aren't expecting something like yourselves, though. At least, they all fight rather roughly, not as smoothly as you displayed."

Angeal glanced over and noticed some operatives bashing swords doing their best to try and mimic what they had seen. It wasn't going too well. "They need proper training."

"They also need to be actual operatives. Lazard started to pool in as many people as he could to make up for recent losses at our last big battle with Wutai. They're all low standard."

"I see. How are we supposed to work if we always work up an audience?"

Sephiroth couldn't help but feel like it was a failing conversation. He could tell that Angeal was being nice, but Genesis had completely blown off his presence even though he was standing right in front of him. "Well, I know a place you can go to that's easy to get in and would give you privacy. The level 49 training room. It says it's off limits, but no one monitors the place. Also, it has a hologram simulating system built in. You can change the scenery to help you fight on different terrains."

Angeal chuckled at Sephiroth's information, "Sounds like you know quite a lot about that room."

Sephiroth gave a slight smile in return, "I've used it myself before. It was my main place to go to when I was 2nd class and trying to get into 1st. They always said that no matter how hard I trained I wouldn't make it but…you just have to know how to train the correct way to make it up the ranks."

Angeal nodded his head before he flipped his sword to put it away. "Thanks for the info." He noticed Genesis as well. "Hey, why don't you follow Sephiroth and find out where that training room is at? I'm going to go check on something. When you're done meet me back in the room, we can plan for something else later."

_AUGH! Angeal! Why would he do that to me? He knows I don't want to talk to him! Angeal! There he goes. Well great. This isn't awkward AT ALL. What should I say or do?_ "Um. Right. I wouldn't mind seeing it."

Sephiroth thought Angeal made such a poor move…but he decided that he'd go along with it. "This way."

_This sucks. What can I say to him that won't sound like I'm being an ass? I really don't want to get hurt all over again, especially after getting out of that stupid hospital._ "How…are your eyes?"

Sephiroth stared wondering what he meant. "Hmm?"

"The uh…poisonous goo you had in your eyes earlier? In the elevator?"

"Oh. My eyes are fine, they flushed that out and put drops in to stop anything bad from happening." Sephiroth fell silent and felt just as stuck as Genesis. "I didn't realize you were in the elevator."

"Yeah well…you were blind. It's pretty easy to miss something like that."

"Right." More like he would expect Genesis to scream and shout. It was obvious the man was upset with him. "In here." Sephiroth glanced around before opening up the place and coming into the training room.

"I didn't even know this was here," Genesis admitted. He moved in and glanced about the place. _So…that's that. Can I go now? Should I just wait for him to say something? This is soooo awkward._

Sephiroth felt like the place was private enough to have their conversation. "Look, I know you're upset with me about everything. Especially how I treated you before you left. I overreacted—"

"Again," Genesis butted in.

Sephiroth almost snapped but took a slight breath and nodded, "Again. I'm not used to having constant interaction with someone. I'm assuming because of that it makes sense on why I get testy really easily. I…don't want to cause you any further pain, at least intentionally. I know it's hard to just accept what I have to say, but I do apologize for whatever problems I've caused you. If…you can forgive me, I wouldn't mind still being friends with you."

_Whoa he just used the f word. Well…not that f word. The FRIEND word. I didn't think that…he could think that way. This is…insane. What should I say? Yes? No? Maybe? Of course I'm upset with him but he seems to be trying to make up for it. And he looks worried, too._ "Well…yes, I accept your apology. And maybe this is inappropriate to say now…but…I still wish things could be different for us. At least…more than just friends. But I guess I should forget about it. As much as that'll hurt to do…might as well go through that pain so you won't hurt me again." Genesis tried to put it off lightly, but he could only half-ass it. The simple thought of having to restrict himself all the time was going to be a painful reminder on how badly he screwed up. Not only that, but as if Sephiroth was a bag of goods being dangled before him that he knew he'd never be able to reach.

Here it was. This was where Sephiroth needed to speak up and say something. But…how? He said he'd sacrifice his personal space if need be, and he knew that Genesis would only agonize over the fact that they were just friends. How much pain would that be? Then again, he had remembered how much it hurt to think that his parents were still out there and ignoring his achievements. Or that they had probably forgotten about him, but he had not done the same. Though…he didn't even know what they looked like. Still…that pain…

"Maybe not."

Genesis looked up at him, "What?" He was so lost in his thoughts it didn't make sense.

"I've…been thinking about that."

"About…us?"

"Yes."

_I wish he'd explain. I'm getting nervous._ "Like…what about it? That you think it's possible?"

Here it comes. Signing his soul away to someone else because he felt guilty. Would he regret this? "Yeah. I think you might be right. That perhaps if I wasn't so strict about everything that I'd overreact less. You mentioned you wouldn't do anything if it hurt someone, but what you wanted to do…was supposed to be beneficial."

Genesis nodded, "Yeah…I…thought that I could help you 'lighten up' a little. Maybe…spark your interest in something. But…are you seriously…for sure…going with this? I mean, you don't have any doubts or feel like this is a bad decision?"

Of course he felt like it was a bad decision! But he couldn't speak his mind… "I've made up my mind. You can have me. I just have _some_ rules."

He skipped right over being skeptical. The last thing he wanted to do was banish Sephiroth away by gawking at the very idea of it happening. To push Sephiroth was definitely asking for a violent backlash. So instead he focused directly on the relationship being a 'yes.' Now he just wondered if these rules he was talking about were as ridiculous as the first time they discussed this. "What are they?"

"You can't do anything in public. Everything must be restricted to my room. I don't care how safe you think you are in a public area, someone is always watching."

"Okay…"

"You can't say anything to anyone. Not even as a joke. People take things the wrong way all the time. I don't want that happening."

"I'll…work on that one."

"Don't make it visible. I don't want people catching on that anything is happening."

"Okay, I can do that…"

"And no sex."

Genesis let the silence fall between them before speaking up, "No sex?"

"None."

"But…everything else is just…free?" Felt like he was buying a car with a lot of benefits.

Sephiroth nodded slightly. He wasn't forgetting anything, he hoped.

"Those…are the rules? That's all? No hidden rules or anything?"

"Those are the rules."

_I'm not even sure what to think right now. Well, for starters I'm really excited that Sephiroth is just accepting this. And I'm also really horny now. He did basically say I could do what I want to him. And I know a great way to get around the 'sex' thing. As long as I don't ram myself into him and I don't make him do that to me…we're good._ "Well. I like this idea. Want to celebrate?"

Oh God, what had he done? That reaction was far too happy, especially since the man had just recently been looking glummer than fuck. "Um…Angeal wanted to talk to you. Or…do something with you. Maybe later."

"The three of us could go out to eat. Come on, don't be such a wuss."

Damn him and his offering of food. "Okay, fine…"

_I knew he'd say yes to food._ "Let's go get Angeal."

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

_It's really hard to sit in public and not think about reaching over and grabbing Sephiroth inappropriately. He just looks so vulnerable. I just want to violate him. Ahaha. Ah. I'm so excited for tonight and what I can do to him._

"Genesis, you're spacing out," Angeal notified the redhead. "What are you thinking about?"

"Tonight Sephiroth and I are going to try and talk things out about…just…everything. We've never really bothered to try and sit down and solve anything about each other, so it's possible that this might be helpful."

Angeal agreed, "Yeah that does sound like it would help you two."

Sephiroth kept eating his food slowly. He wanted to prolong his weird experience with Genesis for as long as possible. He didn't think he'd be this frightened about the ordeal, but he was. At least there would be no sex… "I promise not to break him."

"Good idea. We need him in one piece," Angeal endorsed the thought.

"Eat faster," Genesis ordered Sephiroth. "You're taking a lot longer than usual."

As Angeal started to snicker at Genesis's impatience, Sephiroth stopped eating so that he could glare at Genesis. "Sorry I'm enjoying my food. I don't eat very often."

"Probably a good thing. You'd look weird with love handles."

Sephiroth shrugged. "The coat hides everything."

Angeal had to butt in. "Are you saying you had love handles before?"

"No, I was just simply saying my coat would at least cover that up if that were to ever happen."

Genesis slowly nodded. "Yeah. Unless it got bunched up weirdly."

"I don't want to think about it, I'm eating," Sephiroth hinted at him to shut up.

"Well, you know you do have an hour glass figure when you wear your coat. I mean, your chest is broad but since the coat goes in at your ribs and then back out since it's free for you to move, it gives you curves." And Genesis would like to caress all of those curves right now…

Angeal hadn't really noticed, but Genesis was always the odd one to pick up on those things. "He's saying you've got a nice ass."

Sephiroth stopped eating again, "Seriously…I just want to eat…"

"I wasn't saying it was a bad thing, I was commenting that….that's how your coat works on you. It's okay, people love curves."

"On women," Angeal added.

"Thanks. Good to know," Sephiroth quipped back and tried to finish the meal before him. He didn't like thinking about his body while he was eating. It was just weird…

Genesis nodded his head to the side. "Look at her. She's got it going on." Somehow Genesis was always the one to change a bad subject into a worse subject.

Angeal and Sephiroth both glanced over at a woman who was wearing a slinky red dress. Her blonde hair was put up extravagantly and her body was shapely and filled. Angeal gave a slight grumble of approval while Sephiroth thought they both were being morons. "That's Director Scarlet."

Genesis kept staring at her before he let out an exclamation of noise. "Oh yeah! She was the one that informed me of my mission to save your ass! Yeah, it's hard to pay attention to her what with her assets being…everywhere."

Angeal glanced over again, "Does she always look that nice?"

Sephiroth wondered what the fascination was with Scarlet. All the men were like this about her. "She's always been like that." Dinosaurs probably thought she looked cute.

"Always? How long is always?" Genesis muttered as he continued to stare.

"Let's just say she looked like that ever since I was a kid."

"I wonder how old she is," Genesis pondered aloud.

"Old enough to be your mom," Sephiroth replied and went back to his meal, ignoring the voluptuous woman.

Genesis pulled his attention from Scarlet to stare at Sephiroth. Mom… "Wouldn't it be cool if she was your mom?"

Sephiroth almost spewed his drink. Now _that_ was something he didn't want to think about. "Do you mind?" Eating. Clearly eating.

"But seriously, man. You're hot. She's fucking hot. It's quite possible."

Angeal shook his head at his friend's remark. "You do realize that all hot people aren't from the same person."

"Well yeah, but Sephiroth is a special case. We don't know who his parents are. And besides, he might look more like his father."

"Believe me, she isn't my mother," Sephiroth replied coolly. He noticed the questioning faces as to why that was. "What? You don't need to know why I know that."

"But you brought it up, it means you have to say it. You can't bring it up and then not say it. That's just being an ass."

Sephiroth sighed at the imploring. "Isn't it obvious? She's a flirt."

"Ooooh, she's flirted with you?"

"She does it every time she sees me. I don't think a mother would do that, no matter how much she'd try to act like I wasn't her son."

Angeal snorted, "That'd be quite the awkward surprise if it was true and you actually liked her."

Genesis shuddered, "Ew, that's gross."

"You're the one that wants to bone her. What if she was Sephiroth's mom? Now what? Would you still act like an idiot and hit on her?"

Genesis thought it over before nodding, "Yeah I probably would."

Sephiroth put his fork down. Sort of lost his appetite to eat… "Glad you don't know my mom, then."

"I bet your mom is sexy," Genesis remarked before thinking about Sephiroth's odd eyes. "You know, why are your eyes so different?"

Sephiroth hadn't been expecting that quick transition that he lost his smile at Genesis's jokes. "What do you mean?" Of all things that he hated, being attentively talked about, especially his strength or physical features, really bothered him.

"They're green and catty."

Sephiroth shook his head at Genesis's words, "I don't know. Born that way."

"No surgery?"

"No."

"That doesn't seem natural. At least, you're the only person I know with eyes like yours."

Sephiroth screwed up his eyebrows as he turned his liquid green eyes onto Genesis's face, almost lurid of the fact that Genesis was saying such remarks so easily. "Is that one of your pick-up lines you use on self-doubting, under-clothed women who are desperate for a late night of untold ecstasy? It feels like it would be something you'd say to…oh let's see. Scarlet? Yes, considering she was your topic of interest. You know, what I don't particularly understand is the fact that a woman who is very well your mother's age has suddenly struck your interest. Are you saying that you like older women, or are you saying something about your past? Perhaps, something about your own mother and her sexuality. Was she very unbecoming when it came to those things? A bit garish and outwardly with what she was doing and how she was doing it? Maybe she even…directed it toward you?" Ha. He diverted that so easily!

_What the fuck. Not only did he just twist the subject away from him, he placed it back on me! I hate it when he does that. But man, he's good, he really did get me in a tight spot. Not that anything he said is true, but the look on Angeal's face and the wit of Sephiroth's tongue will definitely have me pinned for the rest of the night._ "Contrary to popular belief, my mother isn't a harlot and she is very faithful to my father. As for sexual advances goes, she is a talker but she's never placed me in an awkward position. Unlike Miss Scarlet over there, who has put you in that position. You know, I think I can almost imagine it now, her slinking up against you like the sly foxy lady that she is. Perhaps placing one hand on your thigh and another around you to distract your attention from where her fleeting hand wanders. How many dates has she asked you on? Several? Have you said yes to any of them? I can bet that she'd mask it as a part of necessary orders to get things done, but you know, Director Lazard should be the one doing those things. So really, her actual objective is to get your pants around your ankles."

Angeal had felt extremely amused at Sephiroth's first remarks and then Genesis's defying comeback. Who would have thought that such battle of wits could come from these two, and yet in a friendly way? He only thought that they'd attack like ruthless children on a playground.

Sephiroth enjoyed the little huffy that came back to him, especially Genesis's expression. He had that slight curve to his lips that showed he was enjoying the fight, but also almost believing he was winning as well. And the way his eyes looked at him, so attentive. For not enjoying the sexual attention he received from Genesis, he did enjoy everything else the boy provided. "Well, Genesis, perhaps that has happened and I have allowed myself to fall for her seductive spells? Or maybe I was the one acting out on her? And you know…speaking of mothers…I'd enjoy visiting yours as well." He gave a delightful smirk to his counterpart waiting for the prized look. And there it was, Genesis's eyebrows going up in shock and his lips curling to a frown.

_He's getting too good at this. But damn…I am really liking it. Makes him even hotter than before. God I can't wait to get him in bed, just to see if he can act like this again, to impress me or at least try to seduce me. At least, if only he could act in such ways in just my presence. Sometimes I feel like he puts up a wonderful façade for all others to see, but he lets it drop once he knows that it is only me looking._ "Well, I don't take my work home with me. It'll cost you extra."

"You boys are something else," Angeal finally ended it. "We should head out before she notices us. I think we don't want to stay and gather more attention than is necessary."

So they slipped out of the restaurant, going toward Headquarters in the lit up night thanks to Midgar's roaring lights and sultry outlook to bring light to the world at all hours. Genesis glanced up to find the stars and remembered that in this place the stars didn't exist. "It's a pity that Midgar is so bright. You'd never be able to see the glow of natural beauty when the place is spotted with neon everywhere."

Sephiroth glanced up at the sky for a moment as if to prove that Genesis was wrong, but did notice that the redhead was correct. The stars didn't exist. "I never noticed."

"How can you not notice the stars are missing?"

"I never see them. How do I know they exist if I don't know about them?"

"Well, on missions. When was the first time you saw stars?"

Sephiroth had to guess on it, living in Midgar was a big blur for him. "Perhaps my first mission."

"You don't remember?"

Sephiroth shook his head, but he was lying. It had finally clicked into place once the word 'missions' had escaped his mouth. The first time he saw the glowing beauty above him of a world speckled with natural light had practically made him stop his mission altogether. It was so vast and huge, it made him feel almost small and insignificant standing there at that time. It wasn't until someone had whacked him on the back and asked what his problem was that he had pulled from the wonder. He never wanted to look stupid, so he just motioned to the skies above, as if his answer should be self explanatory. Yet the commanding operative at that time told him to stop gawking at stars and to hurry up, that Sephiroth was wasting his time with all of his daydreaming and dallying.

And…after that he forgot about stars.

"Pity. Stars can place you into such an awe-inspiring position. It's so amazing to think that life might be out there, but also more tantalizing to think of how long these planets have been going even without us here." Genesis had dropped into that poetic, dreamy stupor he got when he thought about the Planet and all of its wonderful creations. He didn't want to let go of it, ever. Yet he could tell that his words had no affect on Sephiroth and Angeal. "Do you think aliens exist?"

Sephiroth calculated the possibilities. "Well, let's see. We're only in one galaxy, right? But there are millions of galaxies out there."

"Yes."

"Then yes, it must be possible. We might be 1 planet within this galaxy that has life, but surely if there are so many other planets and stars out there, someone must be inhabiting them. We just haven't learned how to get there as of yet."

"That's kind of…creepy to think about." Aliens being out there, somewhere. Did they ever think about finding another planet? "What…do you think they'd do? If…they came here."

"Dominate, obviously. If they have technology to get here and we don't, they will most assuredly use us as slaves or kill us. Nevertheless, they'll want our technology and our resources, I imagine. Why else would they leave their planet?"

"Yeah…good point." _Maybe this isn't such the greatest topic to bring up. Besides, I don't care about aliens, I care about getting him alone._

Angeal looked at the time before returning his bright eyes toward them. He could tell Genesis was impatient about something. "You two were going to straighten things up, right? I guess I'll be seeing you. I'm going to get some shut eye."

Sephiroth could already feel that impending doom feeling as Angeal moved off to his room while Genesis followed him to his. What did the redhead have planned for them? He couldn't imagine it being anything too frisky, right? Surely Genesis didn't like to act so quickly—

"Take off your clothes."

Sephiroth turned to look at Genesis who had pushed and locked the door. "Um…what?" God he hoped he heard that wrong.

"Take…off your clothes…"

"Why?" Whatever they were doing clearly needed to have clothing, at least in his mind.

"Because having you naked is so much more appealing in my mind. Do you need help?"

Sephiroth held up his hands in defense once Genesis came forth to grab at him. "Back off."

"I thought you said you'd let me be with you, Sephiroth. Have you been lying this entire time just to pull my leg?" Genesis looked clearly irritated by this point. It wasn't what Sephiroth was trying to do.

"Look…sorry, I'm just a bit….jumpy." Or something like that. "Tell me what you're going to do first."

"What's the fun in telling you?" Genesis asked.

"Genesis…." Sephiroth warned.

"Okay, I was going to rape you to death."

"Genesis!" Dear God his mind did not need to hear such things. He'd only believe it, and then he'd be even harder to get at.

"I'm joking, I want to see naked." Genesis hesitated. "And that's the truth."

"Why?"

"Because…why wouldn't I?"

"That's…no, that's just as bad as—"

"You only said no sex and no visible marks. Staring at you doesn't do either of those. Now strip."

"I'm not going to do that."

Genesis sighed at Sephiroth's persistent refusal. "Okay. How's about boxers? Does that make you feel better?"

Sephiroth felt like he was running out of options in getting out of doing anything. He was just freaked out, Genesis looked like he had a lot of things planned out for them and he didn't want to experience any of it. "Why?"

"My Goddess you're really hard to work with."

"It keeps people like you away," Sephiroth replied softly.

"Haha. Too bad, you're mine. If you're so freaked out, I'll tell you everything I'm going to do before I do it. Does that sound reasonable?"

"Maybe…tell me what you're going to do to me if I take my clothes off."

"I'll ask you to get in bed."

"Then what?"

"Then I'll strip and get in bed with you."

"What? That sounds—"

"Intimate?"

"No, it sounds like you're trying to do something you shouldn't."

"I won't violate your rules!" Genesis argued. "Just trust me. If you get really uncomfortable you can tell me and I'll back off. Okay?"

Why did Sephiroth even agree to this? He didn't want to experience any of this…right? Of course right. He was allowing this more for Genesis than his own benefit. Besides, Genesis couldn't get too sexual, the man would respect his boundaries. Allowing Genesis to get the hormonal buzz off and realize that it's not worth it would be a good idea. That way once Genesis gets bored he'd find that Sephiroth is a better friend than toy. "Okay…"

Genesis noticed Sephiroth wasn't moving still. Maybe he was just freaked out at how demanding he was? That could be possible, the guy wasn't used to any physical contact… Now he'd be getting plenty. As gently as he could he put his arms around Sephiroth's waist and looked up at him. Man he felt short. He needed taller shoes. "Trust me."

"I'm trying," Sephiroth replied. He pointed to the other side of the bed, "Go over there. If you're undressing I don't want anyone to see your clothes if they come in."

"Yes, sir," Genesis mockingly saluted before going to the other side. He stripped down to his boxers and got in with Sephiroth, finding the man to be watching him hesitantly. He wondered if he'd be like this all the time. Poor thing was probably going to have nightmares forever. "Okay, now I'm going to get on you, so don't freak out."

"What? Why?"

"I said don't freak out." Genesis straddled Sephiroth and could feel how tense he was. "Try to relax."

"I can't when you're this close."

"Not my problem." Genesis slid his hands onto Sephiroth's shoulders and one slinked up and rested against his neck. "I'm going to kiss you. You're going to have to play a part in this, all right?"

"Uh, Genesis, I don't like that idea. I'm uncomfortable doing that."

"Kissing won't kill you."

"I really don't want to."

"We don't have to make it sloppy."

"Who said anything about sloppy? Wait, what kind of kissing were you going for?" Heavens, Sephiroth was not prepared at all for this. His moralistic views of such interactions were clearly getting into the way of Genesis's dream relationship. As much as he wished to keep himself virginal in all senses, he knew that Genesis was a very persistent man and also that he had told Genesis this was fine. He couldn't quickly take back what he had said just because his comfort zones weren't as slackened as Genesis's. Besides, new experiences might wipe away the nightmares of his life. It's been too long now that he had to lay awake at night dreading the morning but fearing to lay there as those images haunted him. And even that wasn't the most of it. But the sickening feeling that he kept wronging Genesis kept arising. He didn't know what to say to anyone anymore, especially since it was becoming too personal for his own liking. Sephiroth didn't even dare to think of releasing any information to Lazard. It was like the mission and his reactions to Genesis had suddenly clamped down hard on him, and there was nothing to pry open the vice that held him tight. This was his release. Genesis, allowing the man to do as he pleased in hopes that believing such actions could somehow vex away the whole problem.

Maybe that's why people enjoyed sex so much. Because it was the only way to release one's worries…

He didn't get a response from Genesis, nor did he really need one. His thoughts were so scrambled that he probably already forgot his own question. Instead he felt Genesis kissing him already, lips pressed sweetly against his. His adrenaline spiked and he forced Genesis back, hands clamping tightly onto the redhead's toned arms.

"Sephiroth, it was a kiss. Calm down," Genesis quietly bade him to relax. "You're really nervous about all of this…"

"I'm used to keeping people at sword's length, not this close. My initial reaction to everything you do to me is to try and hurt you. It's just in my blood, I can't help it."

"I see…" Genesis wished he could get around that dilemma. Oh…he had an idea. "Well, you could always act on me instead."

Sephiroth almost laughed. Almost. "You do realize how hard that would be for me, right?"

"You resist me and you're too scared to do it yourself. You're quite the person to work with, you know that?"

"Who said this should be easy?"

Genesis smirked at the remark and kissed Sephiroth on the lips again, feeling Sephiroth clench up. "You tensed up again."

"I told you I can't help that."

"Maybe I should just keep at it until your wear yourself out?"

"That won't be possible. You'll give up before then."

Genesis's blue eyes met Sephiroth's. A challenge. He liked that. "I guess we'll see, won't we? Lay down completely."

Oh boy, what had he started now? Sephiroth moved himself accordingly and brushed his hair out of the way. But as quickly as he moved it seemed Genesis was always one step ahead of him. The man was between his legs before he knew it, and that was extremely uncomfortable for him. "I already hate this."

"It's because you're trying to sink into the bed."

"Maybe because you're on me?"

"Or because you're a wuss. Here, let me help." Genesis bent Sephiroth's legs and placed his hands onto him so that the position looked somewhat more relaxed. "Don't forget to breathe."

Sephiroth had frozen up so much he had slowed his breathing considerably, keeping all of it to his chest and not getting much air. He took a deep breath and tried to calm down. He'd just never sleep. How could he? It felt like all of his personal space had just disappeared within the matter of seconds. It vanished faster than he had been able to make up his mind on whether this deal was worth it or not.

Genesis could tell that Sephiroth was locked like a statue, but he knew one way to ease him up. He allowed his hands to do all the work, massaging his partner generously and finding a satisfactory reaction. Sephiroth's muscles seemed to give in and slowly became relaxed in his grasp. Though he was close to Sephiroth he could still freely move his hands all over his body, feeling the smooth flesh and lean muscle. Perhaps he had wasted too much time relaxing Sephiroth, for when he looked at him it seemed as if Sephiroth had slipped into slumber. Was he that tired?

Sephiroth could easily blame the close proximity causing him to be really warm, and on top of that being massaged into total relaxation. He never had the pleasure of being warm enough to feel lulled into sleep, let alone not keep his guard up. Besides, his missions were always harsh on him, he always yearned to sleep.

_Dare I wake him from his sweet slumber? He looks so peaceful. Besides, he struggles and is distant when he's awake. At least for now he'll be calm and will find that in the morning it isn't always slutty and grungy to be with someone. Maybe that's what I'm doing wrong. He needs to have the sweeter side first then the grungy side._ Genesis snuggled into the 1st class SOLDIER and closed his eyes, letting sleep take over him. But he couldn't stop thinking for quite awhile. About everything, especially what he was doing. _He just seems so uncomfortable. I…wonder if he only allowed it just to make up for what he's done to me? I really don't want to hold him under my thumb if he doesn't even want to try, especially if it's just to appease me and my hormones. But how will I ever know? He'll only lie if I bring it up, if that is the case. Maybe…I'll just have to wait and see. I'll call it off if I feel suspicious…though I hope my gut feeling is off on this._

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

Sephiroth awoke to the noise of his phone giving a soft beep to alert him that a message had been received. It was still dark in his room and he was clearly in a dazed state since his slumbering had been heavier than he usually would allow. But looking at his phone gave him a slight awareness to the morning hours.

Lazard. He wanted to know if Sephiroth was going to do missions today. Was that…a sarcastic message? It was too early in the morning to tell. He swiftly texted something along the lines of 'Later. Sleeping.' After that he set the phone back down and fell back into the lull of slumber.

Of course, Sephiroth was so tired that his message had been garbled. When Lazard checked to see what he had sent he found something more of 'kasdr. Rlddqimg.'

The blonde figure looked at the message for a very long time trying to figure out what in God's name the SOLDIER had sent him. He was obviously sleeping rather heavily if he wasn't coherent enough to answer the text, but alert enough to hear his phone. Perhaps awake enough to even read, but just not able to realize the mistakes he was making. Given those factors, Sephiroth would probably come in later for any missions if he wanted to.

"And to think I'd get you at a good time…" Lazard muttered and thought of other people to bother with pointless missions at ungodly hours. Genesis. That man hadn't done one in a long time…

Sephiroth heard the beep again and he picked up his phone but was quickly disappointed in finding that his had not gone off. Had he dreamt that he heard the beep? Impossible, he never had that problem before. He set it back down and tried to snooze again, but the noise came after awhile, as if taunting him. Sephiroth grabbed his phone to check and see if perhaps he was imagining that it wasn't happening, but clearly there was no new message. What in the hell?

It wasn't until the third beep had happened that Sephiroth had become completely aware of his surroundings…and that included Genesis. His head rested on Sephiroth's chest while his hands were brushing against his ribs and hips. Unfortunately for Sephiroth, Genesis was still in between his legs and he really felt like he should get up and find out where that beeping was coming from. Probably Genesis's pants…

Wait. That would be helpful. He gave Genesis a rough shake, "Genesis, wake up, your phone is going off."

_What the hell. I was dreaming about midget vampires trying to kill me and being sucked into a black hole they created…only to awaken to a very dark place. Wait. What did Sephiroth say? Shit, I forgot I was in his room! Is he panicking about something?_ "Wait, what?"

"Your phone is beeping."

_Woke me up for that? Fuck._ Genesis got out of bed and walked around it to find his pants. He fumbled around a bit searching for his damn phone when he got it in his grasp. Quickly he flipped it open to see what message he got and found that Lazard wanted him to do something. _Seriously? Right now? It's not even 6! It's still dark outside!_ Genesis groaned and pulled on his clothes.

"Lazard I'm assuming?" Sephiroth said, almost giving a hint of victory to his voice.

"Yup."

"I'm sure you'll enjoy what he has planned." Considering he had already said no. Haha, Genesis was being forced to do his mission.

"Oh I will," Genesis sarcastically remarked. He patted himself down and noticed he had everything he needed on him. "I'll see you later." Gently he bent over his sleeping beauty and kissed him on the cheek. He couldn't tell if Sephiroth had tensed up at that, but he really didn't care right now. _Mission time!_

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

_Here I am, standing in Lazard's office staring at this ridiculous blonde because he called me in at such a stupid hour. He looks pristine and wide awake, as if the man does not sleep at night, or shall I say that he doesn't need it? I am somewhat disappointed in why he called me here._ "Could you repeat that? I think I'm kind of confused."

"I need you to play 'body guard' for awhile. The President and his son are going somewhere and they needed a responsible SOLDIER to look after them in case something is to happen. It'll only be a few days, nothing too terrible, but you need to get ready soon. They leave within the hour."

_Fuck. I didn't even know the President had a son. I hope it's not some disgusting little booger-eating child. I hate those kids. They always want to touch me and ask dumb questions._ "Um…yeah I guess I can do that. How old is his kid?"

Lazard looked humor, as if Genesis had said something funny. "About your age."

_Oh shit._ "Oh." Genesis folded his arms over his chest. "So…what would you have done if I had said no?"

"You still owe me a favor. You would have to do it no matter what you said."

_Shoot, he's right. I haven't paid him back for the mako. Well, might as well make it a mission…a dumb one, but one nonetheless._ "Right. I guess I'll go get ready."

"You'll meet them on the rooftop. Don't be late."

Genesis nodded at him before exiting quickly. _I get my hands on Sephiroth and then I get sent away on a mission to be far away from him. Yeesh. I hope there's some type of eye candy to go along with this or else I'm going to bash my brains in._ He returned to his own room and woke up Angeal, remarking that he would have to leave for a few days. The big ogre just grumbled and said something along the lines of 'have fun' before passing back out. _You and me both, buddy. I wish I could get back to sleep. Get back to Sephiroth…_ He grabbed what he needed and made a quick trip back to Sephiroth's room, the hallway was still silent in anticipation of the coming morning. When he arrived in the room he found that Sephiroth had rolled onto his side, the exposed back faced Genesis. His hands pulled his gloves off and tenderly slid onto the smooth flesh, feeling the tensing reaction come to his fingers as he passed over his back and looped toward his front. "Sephiroth, I have to leave for a few days for a mission."

"Oh?"

"I'm going to go…baby-sit some fat cats."

Sephiroth turned to face Genesis finally, hoping the movement could battle away the wandering hand, but it only made it easier for Genesis to slide his hand onto him. He was bad at strategizing against the horny… "You mean the President?"

Genesis nodded, "And his son."

Sephiroth laughed slightly and relaxed in bed. So that's what he avoided. Thank God. "You'll get to play with Rufus, how exciting."

"Is that his son's name?"

Sephiroth nodded, "Yes. I grew up with him. He's…pretty interesting, let's put it at that."

"Is he hot?"

Sephiroth stared at Genesis like he was a moron. "Why are you asking me?"

"Good question. I didn't think it'd be appropriate to ask Lazard."

"You'll find out soon enough." Sephiroth sat up somewhat. "You'll probably just be looking after Rufus the entire time. The President always has his own means of body guards, he never plays the way you'd think he would. Fortunately Rufus doesn't do anything too wild and crazy, so you won't have to do much work."

"Thanks for the tip." Genesis glanced at the clock. Almost time. He bent forward and kissed Sephiroth longingly. "I won't get to feel these for a few days."

"I think you'll survive," Sephiroth growled as the lips were pressed onto his. And he'd enjoy being alone for those few days. Maybe find a really dumb, long mission to go on to avoid Genesis's return. Ha.

Genesis didn't catch the cynical undertone or notice Sephiroth's body language. He was too busy contemplating something while holding onto his partner. "Have…anything else you want to tell me about Rufus?"

"He's blonde."

"Is that supposed to intrigue me?"

"Well, I don't know, do you like blondes?"

"They can be pretty tantalizing."

"There you go. Maybe your seductive powers might cause him to fuck you."

"He's gay?"

"I wouldn't know. I was joking."

"So if Rufus and I totally went at it you wouldn't be fazed at all?"

"Why would I?"

Genesis thought his question was really stupid, but Sephiroth was new to the whole relationship thing. Maybe he just didn't get it? "Um…you and I are together, so…yeah, usually couples try to stay faithful."

"I could care less what you did with him, or anyone. Just forewarn me who you've been with, or at least that you've been with someone. People can carry some really disgusting things through their bodies."

"Diseases. Yeah. I get it. But you really wouldn't care?"

Sephiroth locked eyes with Genesis. "You're not bound to me. I don't own you. If someone else strikes your fancy who am I to say that you can't be with them?"

"I know, I just…"

"Don't worry so much. Go take care of your mission, it's what's important right now."

Genesis got up and sighed, "Yeah you're right. It was hypothetical anyway." He put his gloves back on and grabbed up his stuff. "Later."

Once Genesis had left Sephiroth crumpled up back in bed. Oooh freedom, how he loved thee.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

"You're…coming with us?" Rufus questioned Genesis once he arrived up at the rooftop. Rufus had nice, blonde hair and a handsome face. He still had a youthful look about him, but his sharp jaw line and glistening eyes did seem to attract Genesis more than he thought he would be to a blonde. He was wearing black and white clothing at the moment which made his blonde hair seem to stick out more.

"Yes, the Director assigned me." Not like he had a choice in the matter.

"I see. You're only 3rd class. I would have expected him to be a bit more careful in his choosing. I'm used to having Sephiroth tag along instead."

_Is he insulting me? I can't tell. I shouldn't be offended, at least as of yet. Wait until he's a bit more obvious._ _Perhaps a joke will lighten him up?_ "Well, Lazard probably picked me because I'm the only one who can defeat Sephiroth."

"Oh?" Rufus questioned with a slight smile to his thin lips.

"Yes. It was my first mission and he was at the end of it."

"Ah, he loves tormenting the newcomers. How'd you defeat him?"

"I set his pants on fire. He didn't really like that. But I did get out without being hurt, so I assumed that meant I was victorious."

Rufus gave a slight laugh at the joke. He was definitely one of the calm and collected characters, a guy that Genesis would read about in a book on old time gentlemen. "I actually do remember hearing about that. And to think I'd have the pleasure in meeting Sephiroth's tormenter. What's your name?"

"Genesis Rhapsodos."

"Oh yes, you're the apple boy."

_Apple boy? What the fuck did that meant?_ "Apple boy?"

Rufus started to head toward the plane and Genesis followed. "Yes, you're the one who invented that Banora Apple Juice. It's very good, especially right in the morning. I suggested it for the cafeteria. It goes over well."

_Aw, he's complimenting me. I feel pretty awesome. Like I did something even though all I did was make juice for a competition._ "That's kind of funny. Sephiroth gave me the dumbest look when I told him I was the maker of it. As if he never heard of apple juice before."

Rufus pointed for Genesis to take a seat and he took his own. "Yes, he's got quite a tendency to do that." The blonde figure lightly dusted himself off, as if he had something upon him in the first place, though if there was Genesis didn't see it. "How long have you been a part of SOLDIER?"

"Around half a year."

"Any interesting missions you've been on yet?"

"I was on the rescue mission to get Sephiroth."

Rufus gave him a pitiful look, "You were the only survivor, weren't you?"

"Yes."

"I remember reading through the reports about that. You're a very lucky person."

"Just smart, I suppose. You have to know where to hide to not get shot."

Rufus gave a tinge of amusement and disgust to his look, but only gave a mechanical nod to his words. "I read about Sephiroth's conditions as well."

"Yeah that was…quite the interesting place."

"He never revealed what went on in there, did he? I didn't hear from anyone and Lazard gave no reports. Although, I'm not the least bit surprised. Sephiroth has always kept to himself, especially when it's his own little secrets. In fact, I remember asking him what he had for lunch once and he wouldn't even tell me that."

Genesis smiled at hearing such news. He was the only one who had penetrated Sephiroth's tight boundaries. "I think he prefers to listen than talk. Gives him something to think about."

"Oh absolutely. Doesn't like to be talked about, either. He's quite the sensitive person."

Genesis laughed, "Sensitive. That's one way to put it." He felt like this Rufus guy wasn't too bad. Charming and had some good taste for drinks, not to mention they shared a common interest. Sephiroth. "As long as he doesn't know it won't hurt him, and I'm not about to go and say anything to him."

"Do you say much to him often? You sound like you might have ran into him quite a few times. He's usually the 'ultimate ninja' as he had put it when he was 8. Supposedly he could hide from someone when he wanted to and never be found for a long time. He did it to me quite a few times, actually."

"He called himself that? Funny. Yeah I do know him pretty well. If you ask me we're friends. If you ask him he'd probably say something along the lines of 'he buys me lunch so I tolerate him.'"

"Friends, oh?" Rufus remarked on the odd word, especially when noted about Sephiroth. That man did not like having friends. Didn't even refer to Rufus as one. Not that he really cared, Sephiroth and him had completely different tastes. "So, buying him lunch…what does that exactly entail?"

"It's actually how I'm paying back for setting his pants on fire. Though within the past few times that he's been around me he's gone overboard and tried to kill me."

"Sounds like quite the 'friend' you've got there."

"He's only been spastic when he's out of his comfort zone. I think I should just carry around shampoo bottles…throw them at him when he starts acting moody."

Rufus gave a hearty laugh at the comment. "Oh, I'd love to see that. I like the way you think. Besides, Sephiroth has been a pain in my side since forever, he deserves some in return."

Genesis nodded, "Yeah don't worry, whatever agony he's caused you I'm sure karma is taking its turn. At least, ever since I showed up he's been going a bit nutty."

"When we were kids my father used to invite him along for small family trips. You know, going to zoos, visiting relatives…the usual. Every time we went somewhere he'd always come up with some crazy idea. At the aquarium he told me that if we could control the world's oceanic creatures we could rule the world. He said they could destroy the enemy's cargo ships and blot out their supplies in an instant because there are more of them than there are of us humans."

"As crazy as that sounds, he's kinda right."

"Oh yes, of course. But I told him that you can't just control the world. How would you explain to people what you're doing to the natural world? They'd get upset. You have to know how to ease in your power. I don't think he ever got that concept, or at least he found the way I wanted to do things too slow for his liking."

Genesis remembered how impatient Sephiroth was when they were forced to sit in Lazard's office for awhile. "Yeah, he does seem like he wants to get things done and over with."

Rufus brushed back a strand of his blonde hair and smiled over at Genesis. "So, has he told you any of his childhood stories yet?"

"No, but I've seen a few pictures of him as a kid."

"He was something else." Rufus folded his arms across his chest. Ah, to talk about Sephiroth to someone new was almost refreshing. Especially since Genesis knew the guy, at least he assumed he could trust Genesis in what he said about their friendship. The redhead didn't look like he was much of a liar. "He was a very melancholy boy. He didn't like getting attention from a lot of people, and the few that he did like he was either very clingy or rather distant. Just a lot of complexes all mashed into a small child. I don't know what made him so reserved."

"Maybe he felt left out?"

"It's possible. He'd never admit it, but you could tell he thought about his parents a lot. At least, wondering where his had gone. He'd stare at couples as if to bore through their minds and find out if they were his. And even though my father was nice to him he never warmed up to us that much."

"Could have been jealous."

"It's possible. Director Scarlet, back then she didn't have much of a fancy title, but she was the one who had to look in on him every once in awhile. Though, the more I think about it he was usually in the lab area where Hojo works."

_Hojo. I remember hearing about him but I've yet to really get a look at that guy. Supposedly a crazed, mad scientist or something that Shinra has employed for many years. I wonder why Sephiroth would hang around in that area with someone like that? Though, it could just be a rumor._ "I've heard some weird things about him."

"He is quite the odd duck, but a good scientist nonetheless. At least, whenever I went in there looking for Sephiroth he'd give me candy to get me to go away for the time being."

"Ever thought that he was using Sephiroth?"

"It's possible."

"Do…you guys not care that it might have happened?"

Rufus glanced at Genesis and then back around the plane. His father wasn't in sight, nor were his guards. "Well, truthfully I know that Hojo was using him, but for what I don't have a clue. It's not like he's any different now than he was before. He's always had the weird hair color and odd eyes."

"Huh. I wonder if he remembers…"

"I doubt it. Sephiroth suppresses his childhood pretty well. He's probably completely forgotten about being a kid."

"Weird," Genesis muttered. He would never be able to do that. His childhood was his entire life, especially with being around Angeal, his one friend that he knew he'd die for in an instant if it ever came down to such a thing. Of course, Sephiroth didn't have friends when he was younger. It…sounded like he didn't want any. But why? "I…wonder what they were doing…to him."

"Don't think too hard on it. If anything happened Hojo probably covered up his tracks anyway. No one would be able to squeal what he's been doing." Rufus noticed his father had finally come forth from a part of the plane. He had a thick cigar wedged between his lips and had a face that was full and lined with wrinkles of wisdom and age. His bushy moustache matched the golden color of his hair, and his sharp eyes reminded Genesis of Rufus a lot. But…oddly enough, he felt like Lazard should fit in this lot as well. "Mr. President," Rufus remarked casually.

"Oh please, I think my own son can call me by a different title when no one is looking. You're taking that V.P. job too seriously, boy. Now, whose this with you?"

"Genesis Rhapsodos. He's a 3rd class SOLDIER."

The President trained his eyes onto Genesis for awhile. "Hmm. I thought Lazard would have sent Sephiroth."

Genesis decided to fess up to them, "He made the excuse that he was tired and wanted to sleep in."

President Shinra gave a good laugh, "I bet he did! That boy is getting spoiled. Not that I mind, he was always quite something…" The President got a slight twinkle in his eye before fixing them back onto Genesis. "Though, I can't imagine why he'd settle down to a 3rd ranker."

_These people and their talks on ranks. I feel like I'm a poor person amongst the rich, which clearly isn't so! I've got my hand in the pot of gold, just as much as they do. If only they could see past this dreaded title…Might as well start calling me a cleaning lady or the butler!_

Rufus had cut in for Genesis, "He's a good fighter and quite funny, he's better than Sephiroth."

"Better? Haha. Of course you'd say that, Rufus, you've always got your mind stuck in competition. But speaking of competing, what does this boy have that Sephiroth does not?"

They both looked at him. _Oh damn. What could I do better than Sephiroth?_ "Well, not to brag, but I'm quite the ladykiller," Genesis joked. _That's right, make up stuff until I can think of something._

Both of the Shinras had laughed but it was the President who seemed to enjoy it the most. "Hear that, Rufus? You could learn a thing or two from him!"

Rufus lost his smile and scowled at him, "_Father!_"

"Ah, there's the loving tone I was waiting for. Don't give me that look, we both know it's true."

Rufus felt put on the spot, "Not something I want to talk about right now."

Genesis gave a slight chuckle, "Don't worry, no one is as bad as Sephiroth when it comes to the ladies."

"Oh?" Rufus murmured, more out of annoyance of the subject and also of hopes from driving it away from him.

"Yeah…you could say something like 'look at the bazookas on her' and he'd say 'what are you talking about? She's not carrying any weapons'." _Oh damn, I'm totally going to get smacked if Sephiroth ever hears about this conversation._

The President enjoyed another laugh and he gave Genesis a slight shake to the shoulder, "Good one! You're right, he definitely is quite the joker," he remarked to Rufus. He eased down into a chair and snapped his fingers. Someone came out of a hidden room and poured the President a drink, then gave him another cigar and lit it for him. The fat cat took a few puffs of it before chuckling, the smoke pouring out from his mouth the way a dragon breathes fire. "I can see why Lazard sent you, now. You've got quite the charm about you. Good thing, too, we need someone charming to escort around Rufus and be nice enough to tell the media to take their crap and ram it where it belongs."

Genesis smiled at his words and suppressed the laughter he wanted to let out.

"Sephiroth just wouldn't do so well. He'd only attract 'em like moths to a light. Probably waste a few hours trying to get his fans away and those political junkies." The President took a long drag from the cigar and then let the smoke pour out once again as he talked. "At least now the media will be halved." He downed his drink in such a quick manner it shocked Genesis, but the man seemed to know how to hold his liquor. "Tell me, Genesis…what other talents do you have?"

_Oh shit, I forgot to think of others. I got lost in the Sephiroth conversation to think of them. I need to stop doing that…_ "Oh…um…quite a few things. Cooking, acting…I studied into chiropractics so I know a lot about fixing aches and pains."

"How's your swordsmanship?"

"Decent. I took formal fencing lessons and practiced a lot with a friend."

"Ah. Where are you from again?"

"Banora."

"Same as that…apple juice, right?"

Genesis nodded, "Yes."

"I heard it's a beautiful place. Did you work on the farms or…?"

"My father's the mayor. He owns quite a lot of acres and I help him whenever the apples are ready. I did a lot of community work to keep busy since it's the country. There's not much to do in a small town."

"I see. It must be different than Midgar, I'm sure."

"Yes, very different. But at least there are more attractions here…" Not.

"When the body is not working the mind does need a good distraction. Don't worry, though, where we're going there's more country to it. Might give you a flashback to your hometown."

Genesis smirked, "I don't mind wherever we're going, I'm just glad to help out."

The President rolled out a low chuckle and glanced at his son, "See this? A boy like Genesis needs to become 1st class, don't you think? Charming, from a small town, kind of an…average joe type of guy. It'd raise the applications for SOLDIER through the roof, and the ratings would be forever in our favor."

Rufus glanced into his father's eyes, "Because he's just like everyone else?"

"Well, only in some senses he is. But think of it! People will see something attainable. If he can have it, why can't I? That's the sort of thoughts they'll get. And those are the minds we need. That bounding determination to leap into SOLDIER."

"Sephiroth's not…pulling in enough people?" Genesis questioned the President's words.

"He pulls them in, but not enough, you know? No one knows him. Well, they know him…but they don't know much about him. He's a hush-hush topic. Bold, beautiful, but a complete mystery. The world wants to have a hero that they can pick every little aspect of their life apart and give it meaning. They want to know what you have for breakfast so they can have it, too. They want to know your favorite color, book, animal, sport, whatever…they want it all. It's like brainwashing without the mess. They're attracted to the knowledge. With Sephiroth we can't say much. Where's he from? How'd he show up? What'd he do as a child? Where's his parents?" The President gave a dramatic shrug. "We say nothing because more than likely…we don't know. And even if we do know…it's something that cannot be discussed."

_Mysterious…but what about? What can't they talk about?_ "You make it sound like he's Frankenstein's monster or something…"

The President gave a smile. Not because he was humored, but because he found that Genesis was one smart duck. "Yes, sometimes we wonder that very thing…" He had finished the cigar and drink by this point and he rose from where he was sitting. "You boys have fun now, I must return to my work."

Genesis watched the old man walk off with that, leaving everything the way Sephiroth liked it. A mystery.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

Genesis had quite the lovely evening with Rufus. The more he was around him it seemed the more likable the figure was. He could see definitely why he was a V.P. Usually you'd think it was favoritism because it was the President's son, but this man was clearly a well adapted intellectual that had quite an influence on people. At least, he had made an influence on Genesis. By now it was late, and Genesis was walking Rufus to the room he'd be staying in. The media wasn't too much of a problem, and no one was out to shoot or mob the fellows. It seemed everyone liked the Shinra family! The place they were staying in was very beautiful, too. Everything seemed to be marble, down feathers, or red velvet. Classy.

"You said you were a…chiropractor?"

"In a sense. I'm just really good at giving people massages. At least, that's what everyone tells me."

"Oh?" Rufus opened the door to his room and came in. "Then…you wouldn't mind, would you?"

"Giving you one? Of course not. Anything to be of service."

Rufus kept his eyes on Genesis carefully, maybe…hungrily. He nodded toward the room, "Give it a quick check just to make sure no one is trying to blow us up."

"Right." Genesis went about swiftly. It wasn't too hard to find bombs. People were sloppy and stupid when it came to those things. When he came back over he noticed Rufus nod at the bed. "Oh, right." He looked about it and got down on all fours to see if the bed had anything hidden within it.

Rufus, meanwhile, stripped down some of his clothes before he walked over and placed a hand gently on Genesis's back, letting it trail against the figure's hips. "Safe?"

Genesis felt the touch and slowly backed out, staring at him. "Yeah." The hand was now trailing up his shoulder. "Rufus…"

"Yes?" He hadn't moved back, and the looks in his eyes were speaking some wild things to Genesis.

_Oh man. He's totally hitting on me. He wants it. I want it. I shouldn't want it but I do. But Sephiroth…Sephiroth… Oh fuck it, he said he didn't care._ "I didn't know you wanted that kind of massage."

"Subtlety at its finest."

Genesis got up and pulled the V.P. onto the bed, undressing him carefully so as not to leave any marks. "What made you think I'm like that?"

"You're a wonderful flirt."

Genesis smiled at that. "Yes, I tend to do that a lot. What can I say, I love attractive people."

Rufus returned the smile as he set his eyes upon Genesis when the figure started to undress as well. The muscles called to him and he instinctively came up and kissed Genesis's abdomen, going further and further down with each kiss…

And for Genesis…it was a vacation of eternal bliss.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

Sephiroth, over the few days that Genesis had been gone, started to realize something. Maybe it was just the guilt that was hitting him hard, but he found that he had troubles sleeping at night. His missions never lasted long but they were tiring, yet when he got into bed all he could do was stare at the ceiling about him and wish for the thing he wanted most. Sleep. Yet it never came, like a broken promise or something, where he believed to find it once he got in bed but was only met with disappointment. And this kept happening every single night. It was aggravating. Angeal had asked him a few times if he had fought with Genesis before leaving, but Sephiroth just remarked that he was having bad dreams, that was all. But it wasn't all…

Maybe he just really needed Genesis there to get some sleep? But why? He never had any problems before. He was always a light sleeper, but this was far worse than waking up at every single noise. This was like trying to kill himself from over exhaustion.

But why Genesis? He wasn't even attached to him or anything! The man was about as relevant as Lazard, or Angeal, or anyone in Headquarters. It didn't make sense. And it made him angry that it didn't make sense.

Sephiroth spent an entire day lying in bed, drowsy but too worried and frustrated to fall into slumber. He kept thinking about Genesis. The guy cared about him, but he didn't return the feelings. As much as he wanted to allow Genesis to have full access to him, he knew he'd always tense up and push him away. But thinking about how he reacted even made him feel bad. Genesis probably thought Sephiroth hated him, like the entire relationship was a ruse. Which it was…and Sephiroth felt agony that he'd even try to hide such a thing.

He was terrible.

His thoughts were so thick with doubt, agony, and worry that he never realized that Genesis had came into the room. When he felt something touch him he quickly reacted by snatching onto it, only to find that it was Genesis's hand. "Genesis?" He felt like he was seeing a ghost.

"Yeah, it's me, don't need to…break my arm. You look really tired. Have you been working hard?"

"I…yeah." How many days had it been? He didn't even know. Had he buzzed off an entire day? He grabbed up the clock on the side table and stared at the time. It was late. "How was your mission?" He didn't want to seem pushy on the subject, but he wanted to get some sleep.

Genesis felt a lump in his throat on the subject. He had slept with Rufus. He had realized how horrific and terrible that had been. To think that he wanted Sephiroth and that he'd go and toy around with some blonde… What was wrong with him? But he couldn't say much to Sephiroth, though the figure had asked that Genesis be truthful about what he had been doing. As much as Sephiroth said he didn't care, he just felt like the reaction would still be one he wouldn't like. "It was fine. Boring at points, good in others… Not much to talk about, really." He hesitated. "Well, it's late, maybe I shouldn't bother you—"

Sephiroth watched Genesis move to leave but he hadn't let go. "You're acting weird."

Genesis stared back at him. The vice grip was still on his wrist, holding him there so he couldn't escape. "I am? You're the one that's acting rather funny."

"No…you're just not you."

Right, maybe Sephiroth noticed he wasn't as clingy? He bent over and kissed Sephiroth on the lips. "I think you're on crack. Do you want me to stay in here? I can if you want."

"Since when did you ever ask?" Sephiroth shot at him again. Genesis was starting to panic. Yet he kept his cool and decided to go about it as nicely as possible, avoiding the subject that he didn't want to bring up.

"You look really tired and I thought you'd want to get some sleep. I thought you were uncomfortable around me—"

"I am tired. But I haven't slept in quite awhile."

Genesis could feel the grip slowly lessen on his arm. So…he hadn't slept in a long time, but wanted to sleep. It seemed he wanted him around, but he wouldn't go about directly asking for it. Slowly Genesis made his way to the other side of the bed and took off his clothes. He got into bed and settled in snuggly beside Sephiroth. "Better?" His hands worked themselves over to massage his partner, hoping to push off the suspicion he was exuding.

"I still think you're acting oddly," Sephiroth remarked but didn't seem to want to fight anymore. The massage felt nice and sleep was finally coming. Once again he had avoided answering Genesis's question.

"Just go to sleep."

And together they did.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

Angeal was surprised that Genesis never got back in the room. What could he have done so late in the night that he wouldn't come back? Was he still talking to Sephiroth? All night long, though? It was morning now and he did feel a bit worried about those two. Or at least…irked.

He went down the quiet hallway as others were still in deep slumber and gradually turned the doorknob of Sephiroth's room open. It was unlocked, something Genesis was too worked up to remember to do last night. He noticed the room was dark, but his eyes adjusted quickly in glancing in at them. The sight sent a slight shock to his system. Genesis and Sephiroth were neatly holding each other while they slept.

So the rumors were true? Why did Genesis lie? Was he scared of being judged? But Angeal never judged him…and he always supported his friend…

Perhaps it was a more recent thing? He'd have to implore…

He closed the door again, silently as before, and moved back to his room to contemplate the messed up situation, wondering how he'd go about doing this.

Genesis…just had to make everything complicated.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

Oh baby, oh baby. So another lovely ending. What will Angeal do? Will Sephiroth ever tell Genesis how he really feels? And what of Genesis's dirty little secret?

Please review and once again, thank you for reading!


	8. Chapter 8

Yeah. Another chapter. I'm turning them out because they're shorter than I usually do. But you guys like them, right? Right.

Note, this chapter has some friskiness and drama!

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A month had passed for the hardworking SOLDIER operatives. Genesis and Angeal had been informed of their possibility into getting into 2nd class and together they spent a lot of time training. It was back breaking work, trying to build muscle, become a better fighter, and also still have a social life whenever they weren't begging for missions. The more missions they went on the greater their chances would be in the promotion. But it wasn't like it'd be handed over so easily. There were tests to go through, many of them. What these tests were no one really knew, but it was easy to assume that as long as a person worked hard and always come out triumphant that they would more than likely become 2nd class.

Even though a month had passed and the operatives busied themselves, there were still dark secrets kept between all of them. Agony and deceit settled amongst the daily feelings of triumph. Sometimes they'd quarrel openly, but never on the dark subjects they held close to their hearts.

Until one day…the skeletons in their closets could not stay hidden any longer.

Angeal hadn't felt like bringing up the issue in case he was jumping to conclusions. Maybe he just imagined the two huddled together? Maybe he just assumed something when it was the complete opposite? Perhaps they heard him coming and thought it'd be funny to do such a thing? Of course, he was only saying those things in his mind, but they were obviously all false. Genesis spent a great amount of his evening with Sephiroth, always keeping his time spent between the two separate. To Angeal, it was apparent that Genesis was hiding something. But how to call him out on his behavior? He had feared to do it in case Genesis made a scene, or perhaps would take offense to his accusations. But it had gone on long enough. A month of Genesis coming up with excuses to be around Sephiroth at night seemed like too much. He didn't like that his friend would lie to him like that, and by now it needed to stop.

They were in the room, a day had slowly turned to night after their missions and training. Genesis was coming out of the bathroom after showering. It was obvious he was primping himself for Sephiroth. Though, even underneath that happy look Angeal could see some strain. He assumed it was because Genesis had to lie so much that it was really bothering him. When the redhead came out, putting in his earrings that were setting out on the table, Angeal decided to break the silence.

"So, what are you doing tonight?"

"Sephiroth suggested something for keeping focus in training, he said it'd help me win battles against you. I thought I might as well—"

"Of course."

Genesis heard the curtness of Angeal's words. Uh-oh. Slowly Genesis turned around as he fixed his shirt. "Um…yeah."

"So what are you really doing?"

Did he…not believe him? Genesis didn't quite understand the tone Angeal was using. Was he in trouble? "I just—"

"I'm not stupid, Genesis. I've been quiet for the past month wondering if you'd fess up, but you haven't. You're hiding something and I know it's eating you up inside. And I know what you're doing anyway."

"Okay…what am I really doing, then?"

"You're sleeping with Sephiroth."

"No, I'm not."

"Bullshit."

"What makes you even say that?"

Angeal sighed and folded his arms over his chest. "A month ago I went to see where you had gone because you hadn't returned to the room, which you said you would. I thought you were talking to Sephiroth, so I checked in to see if things were going all right. The two of you were in bed together!"

Genesis felt so flustered. Angeal had seen them and said nothing? "It's not what you're thinking it is—"

"Why can't you tell me the truth? Genesis, we've been friends for years. Why don't you just tell me what you're doing? I don't care if you like Sephiroth, I just care that you're happy and that you can be openly honest with me. Is that so hard to do?"

For Genesis, it was. The weight of the things he had done with Rufus were still heavily laden on him. He hadn't said a word to Sephiroth and never planned on doing so. Now here was Angeal asking him to tell the truth for once. God, why had he even lied to Angeal in the first place? Even though Sephiroth said he couldn't repeat what happened between them to anyone…it didn't mean he should hide his entire life from his dearest friend. Slowly Genesis rubbed his temple before nodding his head. "Okay okay. I'll…tell you what's been going on. Just…hear me out, okay? A month ago…Sephiroth and I decided to…sort of…start a relationship. Sort of. He's really stiff and doesn't like to do much, but I dealt with it. He's got rules, though. We don't have sex. We don't…do anything in public, and he didn't want me saying anything to anyone, not even joke about it. I agreed, I didn't want to ruin our friendship or even our possible relationship. It's…one of the things I kept from you because I didn't know how Sephiroth would react if I said anything."

Angeal felt rather relieved that Genesis finally spilled. So there was something between them. That at least made him feel better that he wasn't assuming what was happening. "All right. No sex, though?"

"No. It's obvious that he's too uncomfortable for something like that, and I'm not going to force it on him."

"I see…" What a weird relationship. Angeal wondered what they did, but quickly dismissed the thought. He really didn't want to know. "You said there are…more things you're hiding from me?"

Here it comes, the thing he'd been hiding the most. "I've…been hiding it from Sephiroth as well, so you're not left out. I'm not sure what to do on this. The…first night we dated I had to go on a mission to watch over Rufus Shinra. The topic of…sex came up between Sephiroth and I. He said that if I did anything with anyone that I should tell him. He said he didn't care. Well…I…it wasn't really my fault. It just sort of happened—"

Angeal held up his hand, "Wait, what happened?"

"Rufus. He came onto me and he had been really nice—"

"You slept with Rufus Shinra? The President's son? Our Vice President…"

"Yes! I—don't give me that look—I was just being nice and doing my job and he grabbed onto me and suggested we should fuck. I gave into the lusty feeling. I know it's terrible of me to do, but I couldn't control myself… And I'm feeling guilty. Really guilty. All the time, too. I just keep telling myself that if I spend more time with Sephiroth it'll make up for my blunder, but I should have told him long before this. I just got scared…" Genesis sat down on his bed. "Scared that he really did care and would act really upset. I didn't want to cause him that kind of pain…"

"Well, you're going to cause him pain anyway. You have to. Just tell him the truth. At least, if you really do love him you wouldn't keep secrets from him."

Genesis looked up and then let his eyes slide back to the floor. "What…about his reaction?"

"If he likes you he'll forgive you. If he doesn't, then it would be his golden opportunity to call it quits."

"He…did say he didn't care.."

"In the beginning. Doesn't mean it didn't grow into something. Could have also been a front, since Sephiroth wants to seem like a very impersonal guy."

"Yeah…maybe…" Genesis got up and brushed himself off. "Okay I'll tell him tonight. As much as I don't want to…he deserves to know."

"Any other secrets you might be hiding?"

Genesis thought it over. He still wondered if Sephiroth was just doing this to make up for hurting him. Was he? It's been a month and Sephiroth hadn't said anything… "No."

"All right…try not to overreact, okay? Stay calm."

"Thanks," Genesis muttered and left the room, heading toward Sephiroth's. He didn't bother knocking. He never needed to anymore. Inside he found Sephiroth reading.

The figure looked over at his clock before bookmarking his spot. "You're later than usual." Not that he cared.

"Yeah. Sorry."

Sephiroth noticed the short responses. His eyes took in Genesis's posture, the look on his face, the way he seemed to bite his lips. He was late, which was unusual for him, and it was all sending off warning signals to him. "Something's wrong," he stated.

"Yeah."

"What?"

"I…need to talk to you. Like…seriously."

Sephiroth sat more attentively. What was wrong with him? Was Genesis finally prepared to quit? Though, yesterday the guy seemed fine. Had he caught onto his ruse? No, he looked more depressed than angered… "Then talk, I'm listening."

Slowly Genesis got closer and he sat down beside Sephiroth, grabbing up Sephiroth's hand mechanically. He noticed Sephiroth's grasp was always the same. It wasn't loose, but it wasn't overly firm, either. "I…haven't been honest with you about…something." There was a rather long pause before Genesis continued, keeping his eyes diverted from Sephiroth. "Remember…our first night together? When I got called off on a mission?"

"To guard the President and his son. Yes, I remember."

"And you remarked that you didn't care who I was with, just as long as I told you…"

Sephiroth felt like he knew where this was going, and for some reason…he didn't like it.

"And…you said that you wouldn't hold it against me?"

"Just get to the point," Sephiroth hissed.

"I slept with Rufus. I was going to tell you but I was really worried you'd get pissed at me. I didn't want to keep it from you, but I was just so afraid that you'd end everything. I didn't want to hurt you…" Genesis started to rattle off, hoping that all the words he was saying were reaching Sephiroth, that he'd be okay with what happened, that things would turn out fine…

"I told you I didn't care…you should have just said something." Sephiroth pulled his hand from Genesis's grasp so that he could stand up and look at the redhead.

"How was I supposed to know if you really meant you didn't care? I thought you might have been just saying that and that…once you heard about this you'd be really upset."

"Perhaps I'm somewhat upset that it took you this long to say something, but I'm not upset at your actions."

It didn't feel right to Genesis that Sephiroth was so…nonchalant. There…had to be something he was hiding. "Sephiroth…can we be honest to each other?"

"Honest? Yes."

"Okay…please be honest with me about this, then. About everything. About us…"

"You…want the truth?" Sephiroth wondered if he should say anything. If he wanted Genesis to be honest to him, shouldn't he do so back? But truthfully he didn't want this at all… Now he was in a pickle.

"Yes."

"Okay…" And the problem with how to word it without sounding hateful. Like he had said before, this was a mission he'd never been on before, and so far he didn't know if he'd be the victor in the end. "Truthfully I allowed this relationship to happen because of several things which I believed would work in my favor. First off, because I was feeling guilty about hurting you so many times previously, I thought that it'd be justifiable as payback. You only wanted to be with me, and I didn't know of any other option. I was willing to let go of personal boundaries if it'd somehow make up for my previous blunders. Secondly, I knew you were just pint up with sexual desires and wanted to pull them on me. I concluded that once you realized this relationship was about as pleasurable as biting off your own tongue, that you'd have worn off your hormones and would rather be my friend than date me. So far I've underestimated you because you keep coming back for more."

Genesis felt numb. His throat clamped up a bit and he swallowed a few times, trying to form words into a sentence, or into some train of thought. Sephiroth had been pulling his leg…this entire time. He was trying to make up for his mistakes by pulling a fast one on him, and he did it in a way that he'd hope Genesis would just give up. So really, Sephiroth knew Genesis would never gain anything… "That's…all? You didn't…you didn't even do it because…of the possibility? I mean, you told me you wanted to try it for the experience."

"No, I never felt that way. I've been uncomfortable with our relationship before it even began. I didn't want to experience anything. I don't care how cruel or stiff I am, I just wanted you to calm your hormones so our friendship wouldn't be as rocky. Not that it worked…"

He was feeling something in his chest. He didn't like it. It…was building up. Not quite pain yet, but something was soaring inside him… "So…everything we did together you hated?"

"Yes. I think that what we were doing was unnecessary and uncomfortable. Along with that, I found some parts of it disgusting. The only thing I realized was that you helped me sleep better at night, but it's only because by that point you forced me to relax."

His heart hit the peak. The very top. It was thundering inside his chest as he breathed shallowly. "You never liked me, did you?"

Silence.

Sephiroth finally shook his head. "No. I never cared for you, Genesis. Not that way."

And the crashing. The plummeting of his heart down to the pits of his stomach. That aching that was heavy in his chest and made it hard to breathe, as if his lungs had collapsed in with his heart. It felt like weights had anchored him down. All the things he had built up, felt good about, were now cracked and destroyed.

Genesis felt sick. "….Okay…" He stood up to leave. Being in here just made his entire body ache.

Sephiroth reached out to comfort him. "Genesis, I—" but Genesis had yanked his hand away from him, eyes blazing with hate.

"Don't fucking touch me!"

Sephiroth felt a bit shaken at that yell. He was upset, obviously. But…this seemed like such an extreme reaction. "Gen—"

"Don't even say my name, okay? I get it that everything was just a hoax because you wanted to get me off your back. Congrats, job well done! I won't bother you anymore. Sorry I ever existed."

"That's not what—"

"No, it is what you wanted!" Genesis snapped at him. "What were you thinking, anyway? Oh, that because you hurt me physically, doing this would somehow make it better? All you ever wanted to do was to get me to go away! And so instead of hurting me physically this time, you decided that emotionally ripping me to shreds would be more satisfactory and make you feel less guilty. Hey, what you can't see must mean nothing is wrong, right? Right." Genesis tore into Sephiroth, really letting it all out. "You don't even care, I don't see why someone as heartless and selfish as yourself would even think about feeling guilty! You know, I bet you didn't feel anything at all. You just wanted something to do to really get at me. Well you did it! You've finally got the full payment of all the things I've ever done to you. Now you can celebrate and go to sleep at night without ever having a problem." Genesis moved a step to the door but still had more to say. The words wouldn't stop. His pain wouldn't stop. "You know what this is like?" He glared at Sephiroth. "This is the same feeling you'd have if your mother came back for a week. You'd miss her, want to catch up, want to get to know her and feel loved. And she'd provide that easily. For maybe a week. Then when you felt like nothing could go wrong, it does. She'd say she hated your guts and she still does, that what you're doing here means nothing to her, and that she was glad she got rid of you when you were a bratty little baby. Then she'd leave. And you'd never see her again. Can you even imagine what that'd feel like? I don't think you can. But think about it. That would suck really badly. If you had a heart it'd hurt like hell. That's what this feels like." Genesis touched his chest, "It'd probably feel better if someone had ripped it out rather than did what you've done to me."

Sephiroth felt worse and worse as Genesis kept talking. That…would feel terrible. But having Genesis say it to him somehow amplified the entire situation. He could feel the pain Genesis was going through. "This wasn't what I was trying to do…"

"Of course not, you idiot. You just wanted a fucking friend and because I'm always around I was the easiest target. You didn't care who I was, what I wanted, what I thought, or anything. You just cared about yourself and keeping a goddamn friend. Well now what? You're not getting that either."

"Please don't—"

"Just shut up! You want to know the truth? I don't give a fuck what you feel anymore! You never cared about me why the hell should I care about you? You don't love me, you don't like me, and you don't care for me. That's the truth. That's the truth about everything! We're not friends. Don't say you don't care and then tack on that you want someone to care for you. It doesn't work that way." Genesis finally got to the door and finished. "Don't talk to me, don't bother me, don't even think about me. Got it? Ever." His eyes swiveled over to Sephiroth. He took in the expression Sephiroth had on his face, his body language. He was confused, upset, hurt, unsure of what to do. It was apparent he had lost everything. "I don't want to see you ever again. And that's the truth." Genesis opened the door and closed it.

_I never thought I would feel this much pain before, but my Goddess…it's like my world has ended. I can't believe him. So much for honesty…it just screwed me over. And to think if I had told him about Rufus earlier, it'd save me from all of this pain and regret. He even said that what we did was disgusting…how could he say that to me? I feel like…all the sweet kisses and tender moments where we were in each other's arms…meant nothing. I feel as if he told me I'm disgusting…I had adapted myself to be less slutty and more gentle, and he always told me when he was uncomfortable…but this is the worse. Disgusting. God…it's like being denied to have warm feelings about someone._ Genesis didn't return to his room, but rode the elevator to the first floor and left Shinra Headquarters. The last place he wanted to be was in that tormenting building. And all he could think about was the things Sephiroth had said. He was so…nonchalant about it. He didn't seem to care, as if the things he was saying were just a failed science experiment. _He only acted upset when things were going against him. He was sad that he lost a friend, not that he hurt me. What a fucking dick._ His feet carried him through alleyways until he had met at a dead end. Instead of stopping he tried out one of his newer tricks. He jumped and landed gracefully on the building rooftop. Sephiroth wasn't the only one who could defy gravity! Angeal and Genesis had been training hard to get to do that…

It took him awhile, but at some point he had landed at a calm place that wasn't busy, the rooftop was clean and seemed friendly to him. Gently he sat against a gargoyle and let his legs rest on the ledge, leaning against the stony fiend. "I know someone whose heart is just as stony as your exterior, my friend," Genesis commented to the statue. "But you're a wonderful companion to me. At least you cannot speak words of hate…or love…You cannot lie to me and for that I am grateful."

He pet the gargoyle on its head before relaxing deeper into it. As hard as it was, he found comfort in sitting there against the ugly creature. "That's okay…I'm disgusting too, apparently." Genesis huddled himself closer, the cold air biting at him through his thin shirt. "At least we have each other…"

And that was where he stayed for the entire night…

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When Genesis returned to Shinra the sky had started to change colors, arriving toward a medium blue. Morning would be coming at some point, and though he would rather stay longer he knew that Angeal was probably worried about him. Knowing his luck he'd probably be stuck on a mission that would last all day, and sleep would be surely missed.

His journey back to Headquarters was slow and thoughtful, but he didn't have anything to think about. His heart still ached and his head felt fuzzy. Lethargy had taken over his limbs but he made them move nonetheless. He hated this pain. The kind that dug deep into the body and caused the very core to feel like it was split in many places. Something you couldn't fix.

But hey…he was asking for it, wasn't he? Clearly he had wronged Sephiroth and deserved to feel like this for eternity.

_I hate my life. You'd think that I came here to be happy and free…but all I am is a miserable chained bird. This building is my coop, and Shinra is my master. Lazard directs when I get to go out, but he also directs when I shall come back. And there are other tormented birds with me, but some are dangerous. Some will trick you…and will make you feel worse than you already are. One of those…is clearly Sephiroth. Simply because he was stuck in the coop for a long time and will be there forever. That's what happens to 1__st__ class operatives…they become nothing but a puppet._

Slowly Genesis had gotten out of the elevator and silently went into his room. Angeal was finishing dressing when he saw him come in. At first their eyes locked and it seemed like everything was back to normal, but that was when Genesis cracked. Angeal watched as his friend grappled onto him for comfort. "Genesis, are you all right?" He felt the boy shake his head, but no response came. "It's okay, I'm here for you." He hustled him over to the bed and got him to sit down. "Tell me when you're ready."

For the longest time Genesis stayed silent. The very thought of what happened made him feel sick and worthless, but after awhile he spewed out everything. Word for word on what they had said to each other. When he had finished he felt somewhat better, thanking the Goddess that he had such a good friend to listen to him blubber about stupid things like this.

"Feel better?" Angeal asked as he held his friend.

"Yeah, a little. Thanks, Angeal."

"No problem." He rubbed his friend's back and noticed the world getting lighter and lighter outside. He'd get called in for a mission soon. "You should take the day off, you're exhausted and need to rest. I'll explain to Lazard that something happened in the family."

Genesis just nodded. Angeal always knew what to do.

"Don't worry about being bothered, either. I'll lock the door so you can have some peace and quiet."

"Thanks."

Angeal let the boy get comfortable in bed while he moved about to make the room darker for him. His phone went off and he checked it. Yup, it was Lazard. "If you need anything just call me."

There was a moment of hesitation where Angeal wondered if Genesis was going to say anything. Finally the boy spoke up, raising his head slightly. "Remind me to stick to women."

He chuckled and nodded, "Right. Try not to think about it for now. I'll be back as soon as I can." He closed the door and locked it with his key. So much for things turning out well in being honest. Poor kid didn't even have a chance. He had a feeling something like this might happen, but Angeal knew that it'd have to happen sooner or later. Might as well now before Genesis tried to make the relationship even friendlier than it had been. Still, he couldn't believe what the two had said to each other. He did find the words that Sephiroth had said, if Genesis had quoted him correctly, rather heartless. But Genesis's reaction was quite explosive. He couldn't blame him, being used like that would feel pretty shitty. At least it was over now. He could only hope that they'd recover and become friends again. Or just acquaintances if it had to come down to that.

When he arrived into Lazard's office he was somewhat surprised to find that Sephiroth was there. He glanced at the 1st class SOLDIER before letting his eyes arrive at Lazard. "Good morning, Director."

"Good morning. Where's Genesis?"

"He won't be coming in today. Something back at home happened, it's got him pretty upset."

Lazard frowned at the information, "I hope everything turns out for him. Some bad timing, too. Today is most agreeable for your tests, but I'm sure we'll find time in the future for him. You'll be watched over by Sephiroth who will give the evaluation on your skills and he'll be one of the deciding factors on if you pass or not."

Angeal glanced at Sephiroth before looking back at Lazard. "Sounds dandy."

Lazard cracked a smile. "Yes. Well, here's the information for your mission. When you're ready just tell Sephiroth."

Oh boy. Angeal had to face the person that was tormenting his friend. This seemed like a giant set up or something. Oh well, he could deal with it. At least Genesis wasn't here or else he'd probably snap. That would be pretty ugly, and considering the two had been hiding their relationship it'd be quite the information dump on Lazard.

After browsing through his mission objective he faced Sephiroth and gave his usual cheerful smile, "Well?"

Sephiroth didn't return the smile, nor did he give a response. He pulled from the position he was in and stood up, following Angeal out of the place and toward their ride. Once again, Angeal was lucky it wasn't far from Midgar, as it only took an hour to get out to their destination, but the ride had been completely silent. When Angeal got off and went to scope out the area Sephiroth still stayed silent. It wasn't until he finally turned to Sephiroth to talk that anything ever passed between them. "Is it supposed to be this silent and serious?"

"Just do your mission so we can leave."

"You're in a bad mood," Angeal commented lightly as he started to walk off.

"No surprise."

"You know…" Angeal turned and looked at Sephiroth, prepared to tell him a few things, but realized there was no point. "Never mind. It's not important."

Sephiroth tensed slightly at Angeal's words. What was he going to say? Did he know? How much did he know? Had Genesis been dishing out everything to him? Worry settled in on him as he watched Angeal start the mission. He could hardly pay attention to Angeal's tactics or strategy. The thought that Genesis had squealed…and might do it to more than just Angeal…really got to him. He didn't want anyone to know! He wasn't like that, he really wasn't. It was just a mistake…

"Not to break your concentration, but I'm heading in."

Sephiroth stared at Angeal. Whatever had been a threat outside was obviously gone. He hadn't seen Angeal take care of it. "I'm coming."

Angeal found the mission to be almost too easy. He had found all the traps, dispersed all the enemies, and had collected what he needed. Sephiroth hadn't been paying attention the entire time. He hoped that he was prepared for 2nd class, he'd hate to get the title and then get his ass handed to him because he really needed to train better…

When he had finished, and by God it was so easy, he turned his eyes to Sephiroth. "I'm done. Everything is clear and all the enemy soldiers are dead. Shall we head home?"

Sephiroth remembered what Lazard had said. He was supposed to test him. "Not yet." Sephiroth's blade came out and he straightened into a fighting position. "You have to fight me."

"To be expected." Angeal twirled the standard blade and hunkered into position. "I won't set your pants on fire, I can promise you that."

Sephiroth didn't smile or comment back. He lunged forth and let his blade do the work.

"You know, I don't particularly mind the silence, it's nice for a change, but the reason why you're silent seems to bother me just as much as it bothers you. I know you two fought last night, and I know why. So tell me, do you regret anything?" Angeal dodged Sephiroth's blade and stopped for a moment.

Sephiroth had stopped as well. "What is there to regret but in meeting the two of you…" He sliced his blade hard through the air but his concentration was messed up and didn't make the correct impact.

"I haven't done anything to you. Neither has Genesis. Perhaps he hurt you once, but what you've done to him seems to have gone overboard." Angeal hit as hard as he could and made Sephiroth stagger. "I don't particularly appreciate it when someone hurt's my friends, especially Genesis."

"It was a mistake," Sephiroth defended himself. "I didn't know how it'd turn out…"

"You're too reckless." Angeal had pushed back Sephiroth again. "You keep things to yourself and you carelessly experiment. The results weren't in your favor. You've destroyed something you could have enjoyed having, but you were too hung up on pushing the thing you wanted the most away. I don't quite understand how you thought it'd work out. I guess it doesn't matter since it's all over now. At least, if you didn't want to try and fix what you've broken. It won't go back together as easily, but it can still be fixed."

Sephiroth kept on the defensive since he had to think about it. Of course he wouldn't mind having Genesis back as a friend, but how to do that? He kept fucking up… "How?"

"Well, at the moment he needs some time to heal. You've prodded him so much he just shattered. When he gets better you're going to confront him, tell him how you really feel, tell him why you did what you did. Maybe he'll accept it and let things move on, maybe he won't. If he doesn't, give him more time. Say something again. If it doesn't work the second time you'll need to change your strategy." Angeal hit so hard that Sephiroth's blade moved sharply and ended up slicing Sephiroth's hand. "If he doesn't listen you'll have to show him. Here, let me see that." Angeal walked over and grabbed the hand, checking the cut carefully. "You really are careless."

"You distracted me."

"Good thing to do to an opponent. So, think I passed?"

"Yes…" Sephiroth watched Angeal wrap it up with some gauze he was carrying. "How long…exactly am I to wait?"

Angeal shrugged, "All depends on Genesis. He could be hurt for months…or maybe only days. Once he starts to look like he's acting normal that's when you should approach him."

"What if telling him and showing him doesn't work?"

Angeal stared at Sephiroth for awhile. "I don't know, then. Of course…I guess it all depends on what you do. And what you really mean."

"What…what do you mean by that?"

"Well it's quite simple. If you're just trying to fix the friendship he'll probably be hard to deal with. He knows it's for your benefit. If it's the relationship…"

Sephiroth felt so uncomfortable talking about this with someone other than Genesis. "It…won't be the relationship…I don't think I could go through that again. Besides, I'd only hurt him again."

"If you don't like him, then yes you're right. It's complicated for you. You want a friend because you like the companionship, but you don't like it beyond that."

"It's too risky, I don't enjoy the possibilities of other people knowing…"

"Yeah? It's just as risky as ripping one in the elevator but that doesn't stop people." He saw the slightly put off look on Sephiroth's face. Jeez, he would have at least gotten a laugh out of Genesis. "If there was no media, no Shinra, no Headquarters…just you and him in an average world….what would you do?"

"I…don't know, I've never lived an average life before."

"Understandable. Did you like some of the things he did with you? Forget the worry that someone might see or that it could be noticeable. Just think about feeling wise. Was it something appealing?"

Sephiroth felt so embarrassed on the topic. "It's not something I want to discuss."

"You don't have to be embarrassed—"

"I don't know."

"Yes, you do. It's pleasure you're experiencing, right?"

"It's just uncomfortable. That's all."

"All of it?"

"I'm not going to tell you what we did, that's just…" Sephiroth fell silent. "The mission is over, we're going home."

Angeal sighed. This was so interesting. Was he trying to put his friends together or break them apart? He didn't know what was good for them anymore!

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

Genesis hadn't stayed in his room for long. It was about the time that Angeal and Sephiroth had left that he had gone to Lazard's office only to hear the news that he missed the testing. He didn't seem to care too much. "There will be other times."

"Are you feeling any better? You should rest if you need it."

"I do need rest, but I guess I need other things as well."

Lazard looked up at him carefully, "Like…what?"

He hesitated with his words, pondering the situation carefully. "I wanted to know when you're available."

"Available?"

"Yes. I think you know what I'm getting at."

"I don't think I do."

"I want to take you out on a date."

Lazard kept his eyes on Genesis for a while before smiling, "I don't think—"

"Lazard." Genesis sounded firm. "Please? I think you'll enjoy it."

Lazard fixed his glasses slightly, "What makes you say that?"

"I'll make sure of it."

"Oh?"

"Are you available tonight?"

"Perhaps."

"Then it's a date. I'll stop by later."

"All right." Lazard watched Genesis leave and for once in his life…he felt really confused and complimented all at the same time.

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

_Sometimes I wonder why I do these things, why I put myself into such a position that I can't escape what I've set myself up into. I'm going to go on a date with Lazard, and from there who knows what will happen. Well, I do know, but is it the right thing to do? I'm not even sure anymore. My heart feels like it has stopped working…Like the very feelings I once felt have washed away and all that is left is numbness. I'll sleep with Lazard and probably not feel a thing…_

_Will I always feel like this? This numbness…this slighted pain? I know it's there, a raw aching seems to have settled in on me, but it's so subtle…I hardly know that I'm in pain. Maybe that's why I feel numb. My body has decided to shut itself off from such stimulation._

Genesis fixed his hair slowly and neatly, taking his time in preparing for Lazard. He looked relatively gloomy, but in an attractive way. Angeal had came in while he was finishing up and he dared not look at his friend. Those eyes could see through him. He didn't want him to know anything anymore. "I'm going out."

"You going to be all right?"

"Yes. I won't do anything stupid, trust me."

"All right. Oh…it was a good thing you didn't come today." Angeal cracked his neck and sat down on his bed tiredly. "Sephiroth was there."

"What for?"

"He's the one looking over the 2nd class entries."

"So you had your test today…"

"Yes. Lazard said you could make yours up later."

"All right."

"Maybe if you go talk to him before you go out you can set something up."

Genesis nodded, "Good plan." He moved to the door and stopped, finally turning his attention to Angeal. "I'll try not to stay out too late."

Angeal laughed, "All right. Don't get wasted."

"I won't." He left easily enough and moved for Lazard's office. _All right, that was easy. He didn't suspect a thing. He probably knows I want some time alone. Good, let him keep thinking that. And it doesn't look like Sephiroth is around either, so I've avoided two problems._ He slinked through the hallways to Lazard's office and glanced through. He felt pretty angered at seeing Sephiroth in there. _Shit, was this a setup? No, Angeal wouldn't have done this on purpose. Sephiroth must only be in there to finish up the report on Angeal's mission. I can wait._ Genesis found a good hiding spot and waited until he heard the door open. His eyes followed the silver-haired figure as he trekked to the end of the hallway toward the elevators. Once it closed he made his journey to Lazard's office. _The Goddess must be on my side if I avoided him that easily._ He found Lazard filing away a few papers when he came in.

"Genesis," he remarked and glanced at Genesis's attire. "You look very nice."

"Had to keep up with you."

Lazard smiled, "I see." He got up and grabbed his briefcase. "So, what all did you have planned for us?"

"I'm going to take you out to eat…and then take you home."

Lazard noticed there was a hint of something in there. Something sexual. "Oh?"

Genesis looked into Lazard's eyes, passing a very seductive look to him. "You'll invite me in, of course."

"We'll see about that."

Genesis only smirked.

The dinner together had actually been very nice, but Genesis's thoughts were plaguing him to the point that he almost doubted what he was doing. _Having sex with Lazard is not going to fix my broken heart. It won't fix the feeling I have, it'll just intensify my craving. And the more I crave this the more I'm going to hurt. But I feel like I have no choice anymore. My body, at least, has no choice. I've got this urge that will never be satisfied otherwise. I just wish I knew what I was doing. I can't tell what's right or wrong anymore, and I can't talk to Angeal about these things. It's not like he's ever had this kind of problem. He's always been the smart one, never heart broken. But me? My emotions seem to be my demise. And my emotional problems just drive me to physically hurt myself, or do things like this. Like…taking random people out on dates and then hope to take them on a great one-night stand._

_What…is wrong with me?_

After dinner Genesis took Lazard home. They had kept it rather professional, but Genesis had, every now and then, made a few advances on his partner. By the time they arrived at Lazard's door, the Director seemed rather pleased. "I suppose I could invite you in."

Genesis entered and quickly scanned the area. The Director was a very neat person, very tidy and professional. Everything looked practical, and whatever wasn't looked like it was in good condition. But the thoughts were quickly pushed away as he numbly grabbed Lazard and pushed him against a wall, pressing his lips against the Director's. It had surprised the blonde, but he had allowed the action to happen without refusal. It wasn't until Genesis started to get frisky with his hands that Lazard pulled from him. "That should be done in a bedroom, Genesis. Don't be so hasty."

_My Goddess, but I can't wait._ Genesis gave a small smile to him, "Whatever makes you comfortable, Director."

Lazard chuckled at the title and headed toward the bedroom, undoing his clothes carefully. Once again Genesis took in the place and the smell of it before he removed his own clothes as well. _I feel like I'm in heat or something. I don't want this, but I need it. It just doesn't make sense…_ Genesis felt drugged as he got in bed and instinctively grabbed Lazard's hips hungrily.

"Slow down, you're acting like you've never done this before," Lazard remarked and neatly began to prep him. "You can't just ram yourself into things, you're not an animal."

_Oh God. My whole body feels like it's dying. This aching feeling, it just gets worse and worse…but why? I feel like my hunger for this action is taking over me…_ He hardly noticed what Lazard was doing to him, let alone directing him into a good position. He just remembering hearing, "That's better," rather close to his ear.

The feelings of confusion wore off as he continued working his pelvis, so he turned his immediate attention onto other parts of Lazard. He found it really easy to find all of Lazard's good spots. Oddly enough…they were pretty similar to Rufus's.

But even he had lost track of time. Though he had grown tired after awhile it didn't mean he was ready to stop. But it seemed Lazard was keeping his eye on the time, because once it hit awhile after midnight he had to ask Genesis to leave.

"This was very enjoyable, Genesis, but unfortunately I'm going to have to ask you to leave." He saw Genesis's expression and he gave a gentle smile. "I don't want anyone out there getting suspicious. Besides, you've got work to do tomorrow, and so do I."

"Right," Genesis replied numbly.

"And…you do realize we won't be able to keep this up, right?"

"What do you mean?"

"This is a one time, deal. People will think things if we're seen together again. And it'll get messy and in the way of our best interests for the company."

_Ugh. I don't know if I wanted to keep him, but just saying this makes me feel sick…It makes me feel like he's rejecting me just like Sephiroth did._ "Of course. I understand."

Genesis had got dressed and left Lazard's house, heading back for his own room. The world would have been dark if the lights weren't on, but it was the last thing on Genesis's mind. All he could think about was how disgusting he had been acting. Why had he slept with Rufus or Lazard? What was wrong with him? And what was worse…after getting told off by Lazard…he just felt like he should go and do it again.

_Am I just…sick or something?_

Genesis hardly remembered how he got to his room, but when he did he found that Angeal was asleep in bed. It broke his heart to find him slumbering so softly. He didn't want to disturb him. Yet, how would he bring up his problem otherwise? Angeal might not wake him up tomorrow in case he thought he needed the extra sleep…

His eyes fell on his friend…and he felt the arousal coming once again.

_Oh…damn._

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

Sephiroth heard the sharp knocks disrupt the little sleep he was getting. He quickly got out of bed and put his pants on before opening the door, worried that something bad had happened. There was Angeal, in his boxers, glaring at Sephiroth as if he had been the one disturbing the man's sleep. "What's wrong?"

"Genesis. I think he's gone crazy."

"You're bugging me about him this early in the morning?" Sephiroth snapped.

"It's important."

"How?"

Angeal shot back, "He just tried to put the moves on me while I was sleeping. You did this to him, I think you should fix it."

"I didn't do _anything_ to him, okay? Why don't you ask him why he's acting that way?"

"You don't think I did? Genesis made a comment that he slept with Lazard and mumbled something about you."

"He what? He was with Lazard?" Sephiroth felt shocked and offended…and then felt even more shocked that he cared. "Not that it matters. Why does this involve me?"

"You hurt him, maybe he's acting irrational because of you?"

"I'll just provoke him if I say anything now."

"No you won't." Angeal grabbed Sephiroth's arm and yanked him to follow. "Besides, he's harmless right now. I hogtied him."

Sephiroth didn't argue as they went into Genesis's room and found the place somewhat messy from the struggle, but Angeal wasn't lying. Genesis was tied up and in the corner of the room with a bloody lip. He looked out of it, but Sephiroth decided he might as well face the wrath now and try to fix what went wrong. "Genesis."

The redhead looked away from him. "I don't want to talk to you right now."

"Yes, I know that, but there's something clearly wrong with you and it needs to be solved. You slept with Lazard—"

Genesis interrupted to glare at Angeal, "Thanks for telling him, just what he needs to know!"

Angeal shrugged and look at Sephiroth. "Go on."

"And then you went after Angeal? Your friend? I don't quite understand your motives."

Genesis sighed. No escape. "I don't know…what came over me."

"Try to explain."

"I don't want to."

"Please, Genesis," Sephiroth replied softly. "I really don't think you're just sleeping with people because of some…revenge tactic, if that even makes sense."

There was silence for awhile as Genesis tried to pull his thoughts together about everything. "I asked him out on a date."

"Why?"

"Because you fucked me over, that's why!" Genesis growled at Sephiroth. "What the hell do you think? That after telling me everything was a giant hoax that I'd feel _great_ afterwards? God, you're fucking stupid." Genesis looked away.

That wasn't something Sephiroth wanted to hear, but he'd have to bear with it. "It's understandable why you were very upset."

"I'm miserable."

"I know. But why the date?"

"Because I just…felt like it." Genesis didn't know how else to describe it. "I went from upset to…to something else. Maybe lust, maybe just desperation. I don't know."

"And Lazard agreed."

"Obviously. But it's clear that we can't be together."

"So…it upset you again."

"No shit, you're finally catching on."

"Then after that you went after Angeal."

Genesis sighed, "Yes."

Angeal saw a pattern…but didn't understand its significance. "Mind…explaining?"

Sephiroth looked from Genesis to Angeal and back again. "I think I know why he's so hormonal." He grasped Genesis's chin and looked into the gently glowing eyes. "The mako."

"I haven't had a shot since I got out of the hospital. I'm off of it."

"That's precisely why."

"It's been a really long time! Over a month, why now?"

"Because you were never this emotionally distressed before. You offset yourself when you got depressed, and when your system tried to fix that it found it couldn't since the mako wasn't in your system. Inevitably, it decided to trigger a different reaction…which was your hormones."

Genesis felt like Sephiroth could cram his scientific bullshit up his ass, but decided not to snap at him at the moment. He was still tied up… "And to fix it?"

"Just get a shot to fix the problem. Side effects happen all the time to people." He looked at Genesis's ties before bringing his eyes up to Angeal. "Should we cut him loose?"

"I suppose…"

Sephiroth turned back to let Genesis go. His close proximity wasn't helping Genesis's situation at all. The way his hair fell against his bare chest, the long luscious eyelashes that touched Sephiroth's cheeks, the well set chin that seemed beautiful when following along his strong neck. And his smell…

Genesis kept breathing it in like an addicted man. For hating him so much…he really yearned for him. And the more depressed he felt that he couldn't have him, the stronger the lust became. "S-Sephiroth, could you back up?"

Sephiroth looked him in the eyes before glancing down. "Sorry." He moved himself further away and did his best to untie Genesis at arm's length. "You should head in early tomorrow to get this fixed."

"I have to wait?"

"No one is working at this hour, Genesis."

Genesis groaned and then sighed deeply. "I feel like I'm twelve again."

"Uncontrollable boners tend to do that," Angeal remarked casually.

Though, as Genesis sat there he started to think of all the things that had gone on. He was horny, but man was he angry at Sephiroth. Something cruel came to mind, and he didn't care how it played out. As soon as Genesis was set free he practically attacked Sephiroth. The man looked very surprised that Genesis had lunged and smacked him into the ground, pinning him before Angeal. "Do you mind?"

Genesis shook his head, "No, not really."

Angeal grabbed and yanked Genesis from Sephiroth, holding him in a locked position so he couldn't move. "Try to calm yourself."

"I can't, he's making me horny."

Sephiroth brushed himself off. "Sorry that you can't have me."

Genesis glared but then moaned, "Fuck fuck fuck…you're making it worse! Stop making me hate you!" He waited for the prized reactions, using his acting skills to their fullest extent.

"I can't, that's your problem."

"See? Oh God…Oh God…" Genesis hissed, "I feel like I'm still having sex or something."

Angeal let go, "Not around me you're not."

Once again Genesis latched onto Sephiroth and hissed, "I need you."

"Genesis, get a grip, you're acting weird. Try to hold yourself back," Sephiroth argued. He was trying his best to grab onto Genesis but keep him away at the same time. It wasn't working at all. This felt so awkward for him. Especially now that Angeal was here watching it as well.

"Don't say those things," Genesis whispered.

"Say what? I'm just telling you to hold back."

Genesis shook his head, "The more you deny me the worse this will get, I hope you know that."

"I don't know how to…stop you, then." Sephiroth remarked.

Genesis thought of something and smiled. "Oh…I know."

Angeal and Sephiroth exchanged a quick glance, though it didn't last for long. Angeal was the first to speak. "What…are you thinking?"

"Well," Genesis stated, "It's simple. You let me act out on you…as you have before…but you're going to say that you like it to me. And make it believable. I'll naturally calm down, and things can get back to normal once I get the shot tomorrow."

Sephiroth felt very uncomfortable with the idea. But…what else could he do? "Wouldn't you already know it's fake..?"

"I suppose, but if you start saying sweet nothings I could easily forget."

Angeal could…feel something fishy about that. But he chose not to speak up on his gut feeling. "If you're doing anything take it to Sephiroth's room, I'd like to sleep and pretend this isn't happening."

Sephiroth objected. "He might pull something on me, though!"

"You've been handling him for a month. I think if he does anything new it won't disturb you as much as you wish it would," Angeal fought back.

Sephiroth wasn't sure whether to fight that or not. He really had no argument… "Then…let's get this over with."

But it wasn't satisfactory to Genesis. He could tell that Sephiroth loathed him, and his mindset changed again. There were many different ways to get at Sephiroth, and he had thought of a better one than fucking him over. Instead of leaving Genesis hesitated, not allowing Sephiroth to move. "Tell me you love me."

Sephiroth looked down at him thinking the words to be so foreign.

"Just do it," Genesis ordered.

"I love you." He had said it without infliction or anything.

Genesis stared and stared, staying silent as he kept his focus on Sephiroth. "Say it…again."

What was he doing? Sephiroth felt…odd. Like Genesis had gone crazy. "I love you." He had said it again, hoping Genesis would snap out of his behavior.

"One more time…but like you…like you really mean it."

It took quite awhile for Sephiroth to think of how to do that. He had never uttered the words in his life to anyone. But…after some thought and some background knowledge from movies, he had said it again. "Genesis…I love you."

Angeal had been watching the entire time feeling just as curious as Sephiroth was about the odd behavior Genesis was showing them, but he had noticed that Genesis had lightened up considerably from his clingy grasp on Sephiroth. Had it worked, or was Genesis just faking it the whole time? It was hard to tell with him.

"So…how's it feel to be just like your mom and dad?" Genesis commented to Sephiroth. It was quite the changing blow. Even Angeal looked surprised at what he had said. "I mean, lying and all. Must make you feel really empowered, especially when you say words like those. I'm sure they had said them to you at some point. Doesn't mean they ever meant them, though." Genesis shrugged, "Just like you don't mean them, either."

Sephiroth felt like someone had shot him. That was…such a terrible thing to say. But…why was he doing this? "So you were faking this entire time just to be an ass?"

"Weird how karma works."

Oh God, he was right. He had done the same thing. "I didn't mean for it to turn out that way—"

"Yes you did. And I meant for this to happen the same. Because you're a fucking bastard."

"Genesis! You never listen to me! I told you it would never work in the first place, you were the one who got this entire mess started."

"Just because I suggested it doesn't mean you have to follow through with it."

God, Sephiroth wanted to smash his head into the wall. He tried his best to keep calm. "When I said no the first time you threw a fit."

"It wasn't a fit, I was just upset, but that doesn't mean anything to someone like you."

"Would you stop saying that?"

"Saying what? That you don't care?"

"Yes! You make me sound like I'm not even human."

"I don't think you are."

Sephiroth clenched his fist but looked away from Genesis so he wouldn't pound him. "Fine. You want to act that way then be my guest, but I'm tired of dealing with you."

"That's exactly what your mother said to you when she decided to drop you off here."

Sephiroth's eyes landed back on Genesis prepared to annihilate him. "Say something like that again and I'll make you regret it."

"What, are you going to hurt me again? It's all you ever do. Then you feel guilty, then you try to make up for it even though you really don't want to. I don't see why you pretend to have morals. I mean, it's pretty obvious where you got your behavior from."

Sephiroth reacted quickly by snatching his hand onto Genesis's collar, yanking him close. But the redhead had seen it coming and pulled a knife. He wasn't actually aiming to hurt him, but because of their close proximity he ended up slicing Sephiroth right on the neck.

Angeal had been slow in reacting because the fight was completely surprising him, but once he saw the blood he separated the two and wrung Genesis's knife from his hands. "Are you crazy? Fighting like this is only going to raise suspicion with everyone else, and now look what you've done. You're making it apparent that you're upset! What lies are you going to tell them to try and cover this up? Haven't you caused enough problems?" He was saying this all to Genesis.

Sephiroth looked in the mirror and saw the blood. It wasn't too bad, but it wasn't good either. He couldn't stick around for this….he didn't want to anymore. He should have known that friends…weren't something he should try to have.

A slight panic ran through him as he tried his best to cover up the wound and to stop the bleeding. It was useless. He had ignored the other two bickering and looked over at the door. Most of the personnel would be gone, but he knew one figure who hardly ever left Shinra. He quickly pulled up a piece of cloth that was sitting on the table and moved to the door. Sephiroth didn't know if they had gone after him or not, his focus was clearly on making it to his destination without causing himself to go into shock or lose anymore blood then he had.

He felt lightheaded, like his limbs were longer than they were supposed to be, and he stumbled at some point but recovered readily enough. He didn't remember how he got in, or calling out for the Professor. Yet there he was, standing before him with his usual inquisitive look.

"My, that is quite the gash you've got there. You've really outdone yourself this time, haven't you?"

"Can you fix it?"

"Of course I can, you nimrod. Sit down before you hurt yourself." Hojo walked off and came back with a few things in hand. He stared at the wound for awhile as it kept bleeding, taking in the way Sephiroth's body shook to the loss of blood, and finally he decided to start. "What happened?"

Sephiroth couldn't tell the truth. He knew the consequences, the way he'd be badgered. It was obvious that Hojo regarded him as inferior, and Sephiroth felt the same toward him, but this was something he didn't want the Professor to know. "I can't remember."

"You can't? I think you're just choosing not to."

"It just happened so quickly."

"I'm sure it did."

Sephiroth tried not to pay attention to the pain, but considering Hojo was never a talkative man it felt like all he could focus on was that. He felt sick and tired, and it kept getting worse and worse. "It hurts."

"I haven't even started yet, I'm just cleaning the damn thing."

"Hurry."

"There's no need to rush."

Sephiroth felt woozy, the world was starting to spin. He felt like he was falling forward and he tried to snap back, but the motion only increased the problem. Soon he could hardly even sit up.

"All right, you big baby, here's something that will help." Hojo jabbed something into him and Sephiroth passed out.

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

Genesis didn't sleep at all that night. Angeal and him got in a terrible fight, one that he had wished never happened. Yes, he did actually feel horny, but he had been faking being that turned on. What was more, the words he said to Sephiroth were quite crude, and on top of that he had hurt the man with no remorse. After thinking about it for awhile he realized that he was being quite an ass.

_I don't even know why I act like this anymore. Why I keep overreacting. Yes, I was hurt by him…but what the hell am I doing? I'm a sleaze and I take out all my hatred on him. I can't believe I tarnished his parents like that. And him, too. What have I done? What will I do to fix all of this? Angeal cannot help me…he deliberately said that my actions were my own and I needed to figure it out for myself. He's right. I've never seen him so pissed at me before…but now that I have, I know that everything I'm doing is against my morals._

_Angeal…I'm sorry. I'm sorry for being such a terrible friend, for wronging you with my behavior, for even acting like an ass before you. And Sephiroth…As much as I hate to admit it…I feel like I should apologize to him, too._

Genesis rubbed his temple carefully and shook his head. Life…was just so damn difficult sometimes. Yet he would have to deal with it…

When morning came he had gone directly to the doctor's and got his ungodly side effects fixed, and it seemed that whatever Sephiroth had guessed was wrong with him was actually correct. But when he asked around for the silver-haired man it seemed no one had checked him in, and from what they could see he was not around.

_Where are you hiding?_

Genesis almost went to Lazard's office and thought better of it. Seeing the blonde again would only make him feel rather awkward. He wasn't sure how he'd avoid him, but for now he could just flake him off. After checking Sephiroth's room, which was barren, Genesis went to the training room and then back to Angeal. The man had been preparing silently and looked rather sullen when Genesis came into the room.

_Yeah yeah, you're upset with me, I know. Stop giving me that look, it's not helping at all._ "I don't really want to bother you right now, but could you give me ideas on where you'd hide if you were Sephiroth?"

Angeal fixed his hair in the mirror and shrugged, "You tried to decapitate him, he's probably in the hospital."

"I looked there, he's not in."

"His room?"

"Not there either."

"Did he leave?"

"No one mentioned him leaving. And the wound seemed a bit bad, I don't think he'd go outside like that in public."

Angeal sighed and tried to think of possible places the man had gone. It was late at night when the fight happened. Who would be around to fix him up? "Probably died of blood loss on the stairs."

Genesis panicked at first but then realized the joke. He was being of no help. "I guess I'll just keep asking around."

"Why are you bothering now?"

"Because I feel bad."

"You snapped at him for feeling guilty, but you're allowed to? That's hypocritical, Genesis."

The redhead sighed. That wasn't what he meant, but he knew what Angeal was doing. Trying to get under his skin, make him think things out. But what was there to think about? "I know. I was just pissed at him and I took it way too far. I know it's stupid and I know what I did was wrong. I didn't actually mean to cut his throat like that! And…just…I don't know, I'm going straight to him and apologizing about the entire thing. I was being a dick and I shouldn't just let things blow over so quickly. If he's got a few nasty comments to say to me then I'll let him say what he wants, I deserve it."

For once Angeal actually felt bad for being so snappy with Genesis. It did seem like the boy was trying to cover up his blunder. "Remember what I told you about him being like a kitten? You need to play nice with him. What he wanted to do last night was just make up for everything. He doesn't understand how friendship works, how relationships works. All he's ever done is read books on the matter, he's never experienced it and he doesn't seem to see it all that much."

"And I…overreacted and threw it in his face. I know."

"It's not only that, Genesis. You're telling him not to bother trying. For someone who's spent a whole life by themselves…words like that can seem very convincing. Especially since he's stepping on terrain he doesn't understand. He's asking for a friend. You're asking for love. He doesn't get love because he's never had it before, and he's never had a friend. Friends often lead to love, depending on the state of things. So it's a stepping stone to him. That's how it was always displayed for him. You're skipping steps and he doesn't understand."

"So…I should…just tell him we can be friends? Forget the pain and swallow down my emotions..?"

"For the meantime, yes. Try to get over yourself." Angeal fitted his phone on himself and then reset his swords correctly on his back. "You can't force love."

"Yeah…so I've noticed."

"Try asking someone about who would work here at night, or at least stays late. That should give you a heads up. It would have to be someone Sephiroth trusts not to ask him questions, and also would bandage him up readily."

Genesis thought it over and the answer struck him like lightning. "I think I know who…." He turned and moved to the door. "Thanks…for everything. I'm sorry I'm such a mess. You've put up with a lot."

Angeal put his hands on his hips and smirked. "Just try to think before you do anything dumb, okay?"

"I will. I promise." Genesis left the room and headed toward the one place he hadn't ever visited. The labs. Surely Sephiroth went to Hojo…he had when he was a child…

It was intimidating going into the place, but when the assistance talked to him they seemed friendly enough. They motioned where Sephiroth was being held up and he walked over cautiously trying to form a good apology in his head. But when he got closer he realized that Sephiroth was still out of it. _So much for that plan. Now what?_ He hardly had time to think when he heard a very creepy voice behind him.

"What are you doing? He's not an exhibit."

Genesis turned to see an older man with black hair pulled back into a ponytail. It had been slowly turning lighter it seemed, as it was at that pivot of color where it looked like a very dark gray. His spectacles sat neatly on his nose while he stared at Genesis, one hand in a pocket while the other held a clipboard. Must be Professor Hojo. "I came to see if he was okay."

Hojo almost dismissed him, but upon realizing Genesis had other reasons in coming here, he decided to poke around and figure out what exactly happened. Genesis looked stupid enough, Hojo had a feeling he could make him spill! "Quite a dreadful cut. If he hadn't gotten here he'd be dead. He couldn't even explain what happened to me. Such a pity."

Genesis felt so guilty. He almost killed Sephiroth. That would have been the end of his career, and God knows where he'd end up! "Oh. Hmm…"

"Were you there when it happened?" Hojo implored, a bit impatient that Genesis didn't just spew.

"Yeah…"

"Well what happened? Don't be shy, you can tell me." He noticed Genesis was still hesitant. "Sephiroth trusts me. Why else would the man come to me, of all people, to get fixed up? I've known him for a long time. Whatever you say will be confidential." Now spill.

Genesis looked at Sephiroth's slumbering body as he thought of how to put it. He could stretch the truth… "Well… we were fighting. As in, training type of fighting. And I uh…surprised him. It was an accident."

"You were the one that did this? Hmmm…"

"Like I said, it was an accident. I thought he'd dodge the thing but…he didn't."

"Why were you fighting so late at night?"

Oh damn. Good question. "Didn't seem that late to us."

"Of course. You young boys never know the difference between daylight and nighttime."

Genesis almost asked why Hojo was up then but decided not to cross him. He couldn't tell if he liked the guy or not. "So…he'll be all right?"

"Of course, he's under my watch, nothing can go wrong."

"Okay…" Genesis looked back at Sephiroth curiously. Hojo had kept his eyes on Genesis taking in his body language and everything.

"He won't wake up for awhile. I had to put him out, he was going into quite a shock. But I shouldn't wake him either, because once I do he'll want to get out of here and pretend nothing happened."

"Kind of hard to pretend when he's got the stitches."

"He's good at suppressing everything. Anyway, it's not like he has ever cared what he looks like in public. He's done worse and kept going on missions when he wasn't supposed to."

Genesis felt so drawn to the conversation. He wanted to know more about Sephiroth…but was it right to do it when the guy wasn't telling him directly? "Like what?"

"He's rather accident prone. Knife wounds, shrapnel, gun shots…you name it."

"How is he still alive?"

Hojo chuckled at the question as if it was his own personal little joke. "Isn't it obvious? He's far different than the average human. But enough of this chatter, I've got work to do. I can tell him you stopped by if you want."

"Um…yeah sure. Thanks."

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

Sephiroth felt himself slowly rise from his lying position and dizzily grab his head as it ached painfully. How long had he been out? His throat sent shocks of pain to him and he touched the tender skin that was stitched back together, his fingers felt the swollen wound with disgust.

"Don't scratch it," Hojo muttered as he came over with some medicine and cream to put on it. "Sit up, boy, don't slouch so much. How am I to make you any better if you act like an ape? There. Better."

Sephiroth had sat up more and moved his hair out of the way as Hojo applied something odd onto the stitches. It was painful at first, but it quickly numbed and he sighed in relief.

"Yes, I do imagine that feels better. Lift your hair, I'm going to wrap it."

Sephiroth grabbed his hair and began to move it when he noticed his bangs had been chopped oddly. He stared at the ends and wondered if Genesis must have cut the ends. How dare he…

"Stop staring and do as I say, boy!"

Sephiroth quickly moved his hair and stayed silent as Hojo wrapped his neck up. He didn't put much gauze on him, since Sephiroth had to still breathe and move, but it was enough to cover the stitches.

"There. If you want to be a troublemaker you could tell everyone you got a tattoo." Hojo noticed Sephiroth still kept quiet. "Hmm, still tired? Or is your silent treatment for other reasons? No matter, I don't care to hear you talk. By the way, a redhead came here asking about your condition. Stupid looking kid, ears pierced, I'm sure you know him. He told me quite the interesting thing, Sephiroth…" Hojo stared at the 1st class SOLDIER for a long, hard minute before cracking a smile. "Said that _he_ had sliced your throat. Said you two were training. My, isn't that a lovely story? Since when did you start lowering yourself to gather friends from the 3rd rankers? Not that I care, I've seen how you handle people. I suppose picking the dumb ones would be nice practice, but they seem to be _so_ clumsy," he snidely remarked. Hojo lifted Sephiroth's chin as the boy seemed to be staring at the ground coldly. Their eyes met before Sephiroth had tugged away from the touch. "What's the matter? He didn't cut out your tongue. Are you just depressed that your _friend_ hurt you? Friends tend to do that, you know. I suppose it's why you avoided having them for so long—"

"He's not my friend." Sephiroth rose up, prepared to leave and go back to his room. He didn't want to stand around and let Hojo demean him. He had enough of that over the years. "Stop assuming things. Scientists don't jump to conclusions."

"Aha! So he has a voice, and my my… he doesn't sound happy. So bitter toward the one person who was around to help! Wasn't like that buffoon would have done it, I imagine. Some training partner."

Sephiroth had moved for the door. He always did that. Always, without fail. "Thank you for helping. I apologize for bothering you or interrupting something you were doing. I'll leave now."

Hojo smirked at the words as if he had won a game without even trying. But…he wasn't satisfied. "Now now, Sephiroth, you're leaving so soon? You don't want to talk about what happened?"

Sephiroth shook his head. "I don't want to talk."

"What a pity. To think that you can't even tell me something that's on your mind, especially after all I've done for you."

"I said I don't want to talk," Sephiroth snapped. "Back off." He left the area and ignored the looks a few of the assistance gave him. Everyone could tell he was in a poor mood, and it was slowly getting worse. He looked through everyone, keeping his eyes on his next destination as if the people surrounding him didn't exist. Why did everyone have to bother him? It was as if he had no privacy, or that they had to know too much about him. He just didn't feel good, why couldn't they understand that?

He was like everyone else. He had off days, too.

Sephiroth had reached his hallway and blew right past Genesis's door. He really didn't want to talk to him right now, nor ever. He felt like he had hit his limits and it was best just to quit. Might as well, right? It was too painful for either of them to keep up with that crap.

Yet, as he reached his door he felt like something was off about it. His room. Something was different. Cautiously he opened the door and he realized what it was. Something…smelled different.

When he got in he saw what it was. Flowers. Slowly he came forth to the foreign objects that were in his room and noticed there was a card neatly tucked into the blooming foliage. He plucked it out and opened the envelope slowly, pulling out the card to find a handwritten message within. It was beautiful calligraphy, he had to admit, but he knew who it was from. His eyes glued onto the signature and saw Genesis's name. At first he didn't want to read it, but pulled himself to actually take in what it said.

"Sorry for everything. Please don't be mad for what's happened."

He didn't quite like it, but wondered how long it took Genesis to pull himself to write that message. Sephiroth put the card on the table and moved around his room. It looked like Genesis made his bed for him, and though he didn't like someone touching his stuff he didn't mind the kind gesture of straightening such a thing. But he could still feel that something was off. His eyes made contact with the kitchen door and he quickly went over and slipped inside. Upon arrival he saw a note on the fridge.

"I made you something. I hope you like it."

Sephiroth pulled open the freezer first and noticed what was inside. Ice cream cake. It was definitely green mint, too. Oh, how he loved it…

But he couldn't just accept food as a great apology! He needed confrontation, closure, something solid to grasp on!

He pulled the cake out. Solid enough for now. He sat down and started to eat while he thought it over. Sephiroth was rather confused at the entire situation by now. Surely they had quite the fall out last night, correct? Then he assumed they were over for good and wouldn't be friends. He had apologized and had gotten his throat sliced, but now Genesis was offering him things in apology for what he had done. What was he supposed to do? Was this normal between friends? He wasn't sure if it was worth the trouble if it caused this much agony…

But the ice cream cake was almost worth forgetting about it. Almost.

He kept at his eating since he hadn't all day, devouring half of the cake before he felt full and chilled. Ice cream had quite a tendency to do that to him…

He hadn't come to a conclusion on Genesis, though. It was too much to think about and he didn't feel like finding him at the moment. He put the other half of the cake back and checked the rest of his room carefully to make sure there weren't any other surprises around the room before he clambered into bed. Sephiroth felt like crap. He should have stayed around a bit longer to ask for some medicine, now he'd have to suffer or go back to Hojo. If he went back, Hojo would make him talk first before giving him any medicine. It wasn't worth it, was it?

No, it wasn't. He was buried in blankets and kept groping around for something as if he couldn't find what he was looking for. After awhile he realized what he was doing. He was searching for Genesis.

He pushed the thought out of his mind and snatched up a pillow, cuddling into its softness instead.

Sleep never came.

Sephiroth continued to lay there in the darkness and waited and waited for it to come over him. It never did. The pain slowly got worse, and the tensing of his body grew even harder. He felt like such a terrible insomniac. Why was it so hard to sleep? Was it really that hard to close off his mind and get some sleep? Obviously…

The dark room seemed to grow lighter after a few hours of lying there. Still no sleep and the daylight was coming to tell him another day was there. He wasn't even sure what day it was anymore, but he knew he didn't want to get up. No matter what, he just wanted to rest.

His muscles ached from lying there and he pulled himself to sit up and stare at the clock. Not even six yet. Would it be best to try and do a mission?

The pain soared through him again. His neck felt terrible, and in a way almost felt like he had a sore throat, too. What a drag…

Sephiroth got up and went into the bathroom to stare at himself, curious as to what was making him tick. Why was his sleeping pattern so…so…stupid? Why couldn't he sleep without Genesis? He didn't understand. Maybe it was the warmth? Or perhaps a specific smell? Or a heartbeat. Supposedly newborns and tiny animals liked that. Was that his problem? It clearly wasn't a new environment and he wasn't feeling threatened.

A sigh escaped him and Sephiroth scratched at the bandages, mentally imagining Hojo bickering at him and calling him names.

His heart sunk a little at the thought. Of all the people he had ever known, it seemed those that were higher than him always treated him badly. He knew that Rufus always had a few bad remarks to say to him, and the President, though nice, often joked about him behind his back. Lazard easily gossiped, and Scarlet was just as bad as him. But it was Hojo that would make the remarks to his face. At first he was glad that someone was telling him what everyone else thought, but after awhile of thinking about it, he didn't want to know what they thought. It brought down his spirits knowing everyone had a bone to pick with him. He was just human…he made errors just like everyone else. Why was he expected so highly of and was always reprimanded for his human behavior? It was as if he wasn't the age he was just because of his title.

He never remembered being allowed to act his age. He was always expected to be the mature one, the level-headed figure, the righteous and virtuous leader.

There were people twice his age in SOLDIER and yet _he_ had to be the one that led them all and had to be the good example! No fun for Sephiroth, oh no. He wasn't supposed to party, to act out at social gatherings, to argue or swear. He was restricted from everything….

He wished he was normal…he wished he could just be who he was…

But his thoughts all led back to Hojo. Why did he always have to be so mean to him? Over the course of the years it had always been the same. He remembered staying in the lab areas but he couldn't remember as to why he did so. Hojo was never nice to him. It was as if the man kept him around to be cruel to something that had yet to be corrupted.

In a way, he felt a draw toward him as well. Why was he curious about Hojo? The man was just a scientist, something he didn't even care for… But if that was so, why did he feel like Hojo was more than that?

Fatherly figure? Couldn't be possible, Hojo never acted like much of one. Still, the only male figure in his life that had said more than a few sentences to him when he was growing up. It might be plausible. Kids attached to the attention, he was young and naïve, it would be easy to dupe him.

Some attention…all he ever heard were insults or personal questions coming from Hojo's mouth. Neither of which he liked.

Sephiroth brought his attention back to the place around him and realized he had been standing in the bathroom staring in the mirror for an hour. What a waste of time. There wasn't anything to stare at…

He changed and got himself prepared for another day, heading to Lazard's office to see if he could do something to pass the time as much as he didn't want to. When he arrived he stared at the blonde as he seemed to be enjoying himself as usual. He had forgotten all about Genesis sleeping with him until now.

"Sephiroth…what happened?" Lazard's brow creased upon seeing Sephiroth's bandaged neck.

"Terrible shaving accident. Do you have anything I can do?"

"What? Shaving? Don't be ridiculous. What really happened?"

"It's not important—"

"Did you get in a fight?"

"My hair dryer burnt me."

"Seirously?" Lazard questioned.

"You'll never know."

"Sephiroth…"

"Mission, please."

Lazard lowered his glasses for a minute and set them neatly back onto his nose before folding his arms across his chest. He seemed to have the upper hand no matter what Sephiroth decided to say or not say. "I don't have any for you."

"Yes you do…"

"Why can't you just tell me what happened?"

"It's not important."

"Yes it is! Sephiroth, if you're seriously injured I can't send you on any missions!"

"I'm not seriously injured. I'm clearly walking and talking, plus I'm standing right before you. If I was hurt I wouldn't bother."

"Bullshit," Lazard replied. "I know you too well. You shouldn't go out looking like that anyway. The media will freak. They'll think you're hiding hickeys."

Sephiroth felt annoyed about that. He couldn't go out if he had bandages on him? "I get injured all the time, why would I care what the media thinks?"

"You never do care, but Shinra's ratings do. If you get hurt our rates drop. People don't like to know that you're vulnerable."

"Why wouldn't they think I am? I'm human, after all."

"They don't care, they want to believe you're not. Why don't you come back when it's all better?"

Sephiroth couldn't believe this. He was trapped here! "Can't I just lie about what happened? Besides, the missions are important. Someone has to do them."

"As much as you'd like to go out and do them all I can't allow that. And you're not going to lie to the media any more than we have to. It's hard to remember what you've said if you do that, and I don't want the company responsible for any misconduct."

"What is the point of me being 1st class if I can't do my job?" Sephiroth shouted at him. "I just want to do what I've trained for. The point of being 1st class for me was to get the missions I wanted. You've been holding me back instead. I'm more than a poster boy, Lazard, I'm a fighter! People get hurt all the time. People are dying _now_ and it's because we're all human and we're all vulnerable. I'm not any different than anyone else. Could you just do your job so I can do mine?"

Lazard felt miffed by his speech. How could he speak like that to him? He knew what he was doing, he didn't need to explain himself. "I'll call for you when your mission is ready, Sephiroth."

That was the equivalent of saying 'we have stuff for you, but we want to wait for the last possible minute before we send you in'. Sephiroth hated it. He was beginning to hate everything.

"Fine." He backed out of the office, his bad mood clouding over him.

All of this because of a stupid cut. Because of Genesis. Why…why did he ever bother!

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Genesis was afraid to go see Sephiroth. It had been almost a day and a half since he bothered doing much else. He was having terrible luck in finding him, but he was also scared to death in meeting up with Sephiroth. What would he be like? Angered? Sentimental? He didn't know and it didn't seem anyone else would know either.

He felt frightened as he came forth from his room to check Sephiroth's room. He had heard the man walk by an hour ago, or at least assumed it was him, and felt as if he was barred inside his own room. He was afraid to go out and seek him, to seek something that may very well not want to be found.

_Pull it together, man. You ruined him and he ruined you. We're equal now, back on the same terms. Let's just push the fighting away and get down to business. We should be friends, not enemies. I think I can handle that, right? It's not that hard. Let him spit fire all he wants, let him pull on your hair or hurt you, just get your friend back. It would be pointless to live here otherwise in such hatred._

Genesis left the room and faced toward Sephiroth's door, his heart quickening with each step that he took. He felt like he was trying to reach an endless hallway, but before he realized it the door was right before him. All the other rooms were silent, as if the place was completely abolished of human beings and the only one that lived was on the other side of this door. He felt like he was stepping into the dragon's lair, giving up his life in hopes of finding the answers to questions he had for years. He rapped his knuckles on the door and felt himself suck in his breath and hold it. For a minute it seemed as if no one would answer, if the place was barren Genesis knew not. But then he heard the rustling inside, the grazing of someone's own hand against the other side of the door, the tinkling of the knob hitting fingernails. His eyes went from the handle on up to meet the face as the door slowly opened. It was dark inside, and it was hard to make out Sephiroth's face on whether he was displeased or not. At first Genesis was at a standstill, knowing that Sephiroth awaited his words before he allowed him in, but Genesis didn't know what to say without the privacy of Sephiroth's room. Finally he looked away from the dark silhouette and allowed his eyes to rest on the door knob again. "Sephiroth…can I talk to you?"

There was hesitant moment before the door slid open, the silver-haired figure still hid in the shadows of his room, not once gracing the light with his pale skin. He closed the door after Genesis got in and shut him into the dark cove of his room. Genesis felt particularly frightened and confused at the situation, he didn't know what to do in such a situation as this. He wanted to see Sephiroth's face, not talk to something he couldn't seek out. "It's…pretty dark in here."

"Talk. That's what you came here for."

The coldness of his voice made Genesis shudder, yet he decided it was best not to argue and to do as he was told. "I wanted to apologize for everything. That may seem hypocritical, but…I was just…really upset and everything, and I was confused. Being hurt like that made me think incorrectly and I took it out on you. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have hurt you like I did, even after what's been going on. I was acting selfish, and the things that I said to you were far worse than what you've ever done to me. I just…want you to know that. And…I know you wanted to stay as friends and not deal with relationships…I understand that. I felt cheated, but really I can't hold that against you, I was forcing you into things you didn't like. It may seem sort of…pointless now to say it after our fight, but I do still want to be your friend…and to finally forgive and get over everything that's happened." Genesis hesitated and gave a slight nervous laugh, "Like, I said, hypocritical. You apologized to me and I tried to slice your throat. Here I am apologizing back…I guess you have the right to break my nose or something." He then fell silent. Sephiroth hated it when he joked, it'd be best to just shut up.

Silence fell between them and Genesis felt very uneasy about it all. What was he going to say? Did Sephiroth even care to listen to him? He wished he could see better… His mind went back to Sephiroth's eyes, the way Angeal had compared him to a cat. What if Sephiroth could see him so easily in the dark?

"So you made me food and brought me flowers to try to ease everything over?"

Genesis couldn't tell if he was being sarcastic or not. "Not exactly ease you over, but it's a symbol of showing that I do care. Cheesy, yes, but it's true."

"So if we started over, you would be able to hold yourself back and realize we're just friends?"

"Yes. I think I've learned my lesson on the consequences if I don't respect your boundaries, and I regret ever forcing you to break them."

Silence again. "You asked for a lot when I was with you, Genesis. How do expect to repay for it all?"

"I'll do as you ask. Nothing crazy, of course, but as friends we should be able to do each other favors. Right?"

Sephiroth sat down on the bed and noticed Genesis watched him, though with eyes that weren't particularly seeing anything. "I have something to ask from you, then. Maybe you can't answer it. Maybe no one can… But staying silent is no longer an option for me. Why is it that when you're with me I can sleep at night, but when you're gone I don't sleep at all? What is it about you that draws on such things? It's not like I've ever had the problem before. Why now? Why you?"

_He's still having those problems? Wish I knew the answer, too. Not like I'm a scientist or anything._ "Well, before perhaps you were used to less sleep. Then I entered in and I suppose I jolted things or something…made you worried, made you angry, scared…something. It gets in your head and you can't sleep. But when you're at peace with me I'm in bed with you, so…you sleep well. That's what I would guess."

"If you died, what would happen then?"

"That's…quite a question to ask." He didn't want to think about death. "I think…that you'd feel sorrow. Perhaps you wouldn't sleep for a long time, or you'd fall into a deep sleep because it's the only way you can trick yourself into thinking I'm still alive. It's just depression. It happens to people when someone close to them dies."

"Do you think that I am actually mourning you when we fight, then?"

"It's possible. Mourning that something you had might be lost for good. It's a scary thing to think about."

"I've never felt like this before. At least, when I was little it was somewhat like this, but not as dreary or confusing of a concept." Genesis sat down beside Sephiroth and grabbed his arm, showing him that he was there for him. Sephiroth still had more to say. "But what you said to me about being like my parents…"

"Sephiroth—"

"No. Don't. I…It's always been something I was afraid of. I blocked myself off from everyone so they wouldn't be dependent on me. I was afraid I'd let someone down or turn someone away because of my own personal interests. I didn't want that. But what you said made me realize how stupid I was acting. I decided that…opening up might be okay, but I went about it in a picky way. I wanted specific things and to get rid of others. But to think like that…was just what my parents probably did."

"You're nothing like them."

"How would you know?" It wasn't a hateful question, just a curious one.

"Because you're really kind and loving. Maybe not on the surface, but you want to fix what you do wrong. You're willing to make up for your mistakes and to learn lessons even if they have consequences that you don't like. You don't reject things…you might avoid, perhaps, but you don't talk everyone down. You don't even fight with people who are rude to you, aside from me. So…really you're just a nice person who needs to be treated the same."

Sephiroth stared into Genesis's eyes before smiling slightly, though he knew Genesis probably couldn't see it. "Think you can play nice for once?"

Genesis chuckled and nodded, "Yes, I can, I just have to try."

A sigh escaped Sephiroth. A weight had been lifted off of his shoulders it seemed. "Perhaps now I can sleep."

Genesis smiled before nudging Sephiroth. "You liked my presents, though, didn't you?"

"The flowers were something else, but yes, I enjoyed the cake immensely."

"That's good. I couldn't tell if you'd be hungry or not after everything, especially with a cut to the throat. I thought something cold would ease it all up."

"It did. I ate the whole thing."

Genesis gawked, "What? Seriously?"

"Yes. Half yesterday and half today."

"My Goddess, no wonder you couldn't sleep. All that sugar and food probably kept you up. You should go work it all off."

"Are you insinuating I'm going to get fat?"

Genesis laughed. "Perhaps."

"Whatever. I'll worry about it tomorrow." He sprawled into his bed. "Tonight I just don't care."

Genesis felt that fleeting moment where he should bend down and kiss him, but he thought about their friendship. That was all it was. Just friends. "I'm sure going on a mission tomorrow will help."

Sephiroth shook his head, "No. Lazard won't send me on one because of the bandages."

"What? Seriously? I'm sorry, that's entirely my fault."

"Don't worry about it. Perhaps tomorrow we could…train together? If you and Angeal aren't fighting, we could make it quite interesting."

"Angeal and I are on...decent terms. He was just aggravated at how stupid I am. I can't blame him for that. I'm sure if Lazard doesn't do anything to Angeal and myself we could do something."

Sephiroth rose up onto his elbows and glanced at Genesis wondering what else they could do. No point in thinking about it now. He still needed to get some rest. "I wish I had something to subdue the pain. It's been very unpleasant as of late."

"You didn't get any medicine?"

"I didn't want to talk to Hojo. He was prying into my personal business and I didn't stay around long enough to get some."

Genesis didn't implore as to why he wanted to keep information from Hojo. Sephiroth had his reasons. Though, he thought he liked the old man… "Oh. Um. Nothing in the room?" He noticed Sephiroth shake his head. "Considering you're so accident prone you should keep something around here. I'll go back to my room and get something, how's that sound?"

"All right."

Genesis went into his room only to find that Angeal was waiting for him. The man looked somewhat dissatisfied at Genesis's appearance, as if the man should be doing something other than being in the room. "I'm grabbing some medicine for Sephiroth."

"So you made up?"

"Yeah. We're starting back at square one you could say. We're just friends." Genesis looked through the medicine cabinet and glanced at the labels on them carefully. "He suggested that the three of us should do battle tomorrow if you and I aren't busy. What do think?"

"Training? Well…as long as the two of you are careful, I don't see the problem."

"Good! I bet he'll be glad to hear that. He seems pretty bored already, Lazard won't let him leave."

"Because of the wound."

"Yeah…" Genesis walked over to the door and hesitated toward it, lingering around before he looked back at his friend. Their eyes met for awhile and Genesis gave a slight smile, though he didn't understand his notion. He just felt confused. "We're…friends, right?"

"Yes, Genesis. We've been friends for a long time. Nothing's changed."

"Okay…I'm just tired of the fighting. It's too confusing…"

"We're not fighting anymore. Now go get that medicine to Sephiroth." Angeal watched Genesis open the door. "And Genesis. Remember. Just friends. Don't do anything stupid."

Genesis stared deeply at Angeal before giving a nod. "Yeah…okay. I won't, I promise." He left the room and headed back down the hallway, prepared to help Sephiroth. After giving him the medicine and lying in bed with Sephiroth, since he had asked for the company, Genesis stared at the ceiling and thought about Angeal's words. Don't do anything.

His head turned to stare at Sephiroth and noticed he was breathing softly now, slumber had enveloped him tightly. _I'll do my best…to not lose both of you ever again._

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So this chapter moved quickly, at least in my mind, but that's because I didn't want to make it super depressing for a lot of chapters when this is supposed to be a funny fic. At least, I've been trying to keep the fun in it!

Next chapter will hopefully be happier, but I'm unpredictable, so don't hold me to my word.

Please review, as I enjoy any feedback I get. And I must thank those who have been giving me good reviews/comments! I love you guys for being so supportive and pointing out your favorite parts! It really does help me understand my audience.

Til next time!


	9. Chapter 9

Another chapter! Hope you like this one, guys.

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The room they stood within was cool and dark, the lights hummed softly above them before the very display turned from cold metal into a lush world before them. The sun to the side was setting softly, or perhaps rising, forever stuck in its looming position of unknown possibilities. The grasses about them gave off a fresh scent hinted with the wildflowers. Birds sang in the surrounding trees and furry animals bound around happily in the lull of a new day.

Genesis let the world pour deeply into his eyes and he took it into his soul, feeling like the place was truly real and truly tangible. He closed his eyes for a moment to take in the chorus of natural sounds and felt his muscles relax into his surroundings. Upon opening them he found Angeal attentively taking in the world laid out before them. Sephiroth was the only figure that seemed to stand out, as if an unnatural stroke upon the flawless canvas. His eyes did not see the world around him, only the two opponents he had asked for.

"As much as I'd like to let you gawk…I want to get to our fight." Sephiroth's blade hummed as he moved it into view. Its shine from the sun made Genesis on edge. This irregular creature in this normal world seemed so ill-fitted. What made Sephiroth so oddly different to these surroundings?

"Hopefully we can satisfy your hunger for fighting. It isn't normal for someone like yourself to have a challenge, I assume," Angeal replied casually as he hoisted forth his large blade and touched it to his temple before landing it onto his back. He pulled forth the standard blade he used and gave it a good twirl before sliding into position.

Genesis looked at his crimson rapier and he touched the engravings with a gloved finger before arriving into a fencing position. "Indeed, I cannot imagine we'll be much of a match."

"We'll see. You might be surprised at your own strength," Sephiroth supported them. Then he flicked his blade and came forth to Angeal first. The blades struck loudly and sent Angeal jumping back to regain himself from the close encounter. Next came Genesis onto Sephiroth, blade pursuing a spot for the back of Sephiroth's ribs. Yet, the silver-haired man whipped around and struck him off before lunging forth to battle him backwards.

Genesis felt the pounding of his heart increase at how quick the Masamune tried to strike into his abdomen. He wasn't sure how he blocked all of it, nor dodged the shots, but he was glad that Angeal had arrived to help.

At a distance the animals watched curiously before scurrying into their shelters finding the noises as possible threats to their lives. The birds stopped singing and the world grew quiet except for the clashing of metal on metal. The sun blazed upon the figures and created long shadows into the plains, the beautiful dance displayed for the world to take in with a keen eye. Each motion was absorbed into it, filling with a new energy from these young men, creating a memory that would imprint their dance forever in its beaten earth from their fancy footwork.

Genesis knew the best way to get Sephiroth off guard was to fight on close grounds, but each time he tried to get closer he found that Sephiroth's power was far greater than his own. When they locked blades he could feel the way Sephiroth lashed harder to force him back. His arms ached when he did those thrusts, and he allowed Angeal to get his best shot in before attempting again.

"Try harder, Genesis," Sephiroth tempted him. "You're not giving me your all."

"Yeah?" Genesis replied, "Neither are you, but I'm thankful for that."

Sephiroth smirked and kicked Genesis back while striking Angeal's blade, the singing of their metal was the only sound after the strike. Sephiroth straightened himself and got back into his beginning position, flicking the blade again as he waited for his opponent to come forth to him.

Angeal was first and smashed his blade against Sephiroth's sending the Masamune's long end to point to the skies. This was Genesis's chance. He rushed forth with his blade and saw Sephiroth catch him in the act. He easily shifted his Masamune to take the impact of Genesis's strike, but that wasn't what he cared about. Genesis slid down and hooked his fingers on Sephiroth's armor before sliding between the guy's legs. It surprised the 1st class SOLDIER as he was flipped onto his back. Angeal's blade then came down and he rolled out of the way before striking against Angeal again as the figure was on the offensive.

Genesis rushed over and bashed his blade down onto both of theirs before whirling around to strike against Sephiroth. The man had ducked and swiped his long leg out, causing Genesis to fall flat.

"Stupid legs," Genesis grumbled and snatched onto Sephiroth's ankle while trying to fight with one hand. Sephiroth tried to get Genesis to let go, but he was also doing his best to fight off Angeal and Genesis and defend his vulnerable leg. Sephiroth blasted magic right at Angeal and grabbed Genesis's sword-wielding hand. He yanked him off by throwing him to the side as if he weighed nothing.

"You fight dirty," Sephiroth commented to Genesis as he dusted his coat off. "But you shouldn't assume I won't do the same."

"I wasn't," Genesis replied as he got up and brushed himself off as well. "In fact, I was hoping you would." He ran toward him and struck blades once again, but kept moving forth. Genesis snaked beneath the blades and found himself up against Sephiroth. His elbow went for Sephiroth's jaw in hopes to jar him a bit.

Sephiroth's eyes picked up on the motion as if it was all slowed down. He moved to the side and brought his leg up behind Genesis, then over the guy's head, and against the figure's throat. He twisted and watched as Genesis flipped backward in the air before landing painfully on the ground. Sephiroth had flipped backward toward a safer spot and brought his eyes from Genesis's splayed body toward Angeal.

Where was he?

His eyes shot upward as Angeal was coming from the heavens to descend his blade into his chest. Sephiroth took no time in defending against the blow and could feel the sparks coming off the blades onto his skin. Together they danced around a bit slamming their weapons here and there, a stalemate of power between them until Genesis entered the battle again. He had grabbed Sephiroth's hair and flipped over the man, bringing forth the mane to block Sephiroth's view completely.

"Let go," Sephiroth growled and stumbled in blocking a shot from Angeal, ramming his hip into the blunt side of the blade.

"Careful," Angeal warned as Sephiroth's Masamune almost sliced off his head.

But Genesis didn't let go, "I'm just prepping you for a good battle. You'll have to learn how to get out of this one." Though Genesis thought he was being quite the thinker, he hadn't expected the swiftness of Sephiroth's moves or to feel like his body had imploded with the impacts the man landed on him. He hadn't seen it happen, but he had felt all of it occur at once, as if several people were hitting him at the same time. He had let go and hissed in agony as he tried to figure out which part of his body hurt the most. "Ouch, damn! That was a bit overkill."

"Well don't yank on my hair and that wouldn't be such a problem."

Genesis stared at him prepared to make a spiteful comment back when Angeal butted in. "Children, let's play nice."

"Yeah. We should kiss and make up," Genesis joked just to see Sephiroth's reaction.

"I don't think so. Those lips have been all over Lazard, I wouldn't want to get contaminated."

Angeal snorted while Genesis laughed heartily at the words. He hadn't expected that! "Don't worry, I don't do oral."

"Doesn't make you anymore kissable."

"Perhaps? You know…doesn't mean I didn't get some."

Angeal frowned, "Please don't brag that the Director sucked your cock. We don't want to know."

"Oh it wasn't Lazard that got a taste."

Sephiroth winced, "Rufus Shinra. I didn't want to think about him like that, Genesis."

"Too bad. Getting any good images?"

"About as good as being mauled by chocobos."

Genesis stretched slightly and looked about the world again. So odd that it was just a hologram. Not that he cared, it was still a beautiful place. "You're just jealous."

"I'm far from it."

"You're secretly turned on."

"About as turned on as a broken light bulb."

Angeal gave another snort before twirling his blade. "Sounds like you might have a dilemma here, Genesis. Sephiroth doesn't sound as excited as you're hoping for."

Genesis shrugged, "That's okay, I already know his dick doesn't work. It's just fun to taunt."

"Doesn't work? You should get that checked out," Angeal remarked to Sephiroth.

He found no joy in the subject at all, but considering it was the three of them together in the loneliness of a virtual world, Sephiroth decided that he could allow the taunting to go on. "Sorry. Redheads don't excite me that much."

Genesis frowned. "I'm clearly a brunette."

"You're as brown as I am black. And besides, it doesn't matter. The only rise you'll get out of me is through my temper, not my nether regions."

For a minute there Genesis wanted to say that something did happen, but he knew that nothing clearly ever did. Sephiroth did have some great control. He, on the other hand, got off all the time. He didn't want the subject to turn onto him, as he assumed Sephiroth might do. "I could fix that."

"I doubt it."

"Maybe you just need a really good hand job to start off? My hands are pretty talented."

Sephiroth looked away and tried to keep a straight face but he couldn't. He shook his head and sighed before giving Genesis an odd look. "Disgusting."

"Yeah, I know. I'm talented in that region."

Angeal rolled his eyes, "Enough. Genesis, we know that you want in his pants."

"I've already been there, and I'm only joking. It's clear to me that for the safety of our friendship that going anywhere near his pants would be the wrong thing to do. If my jokes bother you that badly I'll try to refrain from talking, but then whenever I'm quiet you always assume I'm upset."

Sephiroth felt surprised at Genesis's declaration. The man didn't look upset or angered at their words toward him, he was only informing them of what he was doing. In fact, Sephiroth felt somewhat sad that he had to suppress Genesis so much. Just for their friendship. It was pathetic that it had come down to that. They had to stop being themselves to get everything to work out correctly…But really, he didn't know how to have it any other way. "I don't mind the jokes, just as long as they're kept private. In public, perhaps it would be best if you were silent."

"I'll keep that in mind," Genesis murmured before his phone went off. _Damn. Please don't be Lazard. Please don't be Lazard…_ He heard Sephiroth's and Angeal's phones go off as well. _Mass message? That's a good thing, right?_ He checked to see what it said and found the usual generic message within. _A mission's prepared for me. I suppose I'll have to go, won't I?_ "Missions."

Sephiroth was surprised he even got one considering yesterday Lazard bitched at him and said he couldn't. What made today any different? He put his phone away and watched the world diminish into the bleak metal area they had been before. They had gotten up early enough to train thinking that Lazard wouldn't catch them, let alone anyone else. Seemed that idea had failed. "He'll probably send you two off and yell at me for the remainder of the day. No surprise."

Angeal glanced at the figure before putting his own phone away, "Why's that?"

"Because it's Lazard. I bothered him yesterday about holding me back, he probably wants to get his own opinion out before he allows me to do anything." Sephiroth touched the bandage on his neck for a minute and then let his hand drop, as if the very touch of it was something he couldn't bare. "Let's go."

The triad headed to the office and Genesis wished to hang in the back, but Angeal had shoved him forth when he had lost speed. So there he was, standing before the man he had slept with, and stuck between Sephiroth and Angeal. He felt out of place, or perhaps just really short, one of the two.

Lazard acted normal, as if anything that happened between him and Genesis hadn't happened at all. "Good, all three of you came. I wasn't sure if you would."

"What do you need, Director?" Angeal asked gently.

"The three of you are going on a mission together. The President and Vice President think it'd be worth a try to see how the media reacts to Sephiroth changing up his mission strategy. Besides, we have some great news for one of you." When he noticed the three of them looked somewhat interested he smiled and spilled. "Angeal, you've been promoted to 2nd class successfully."

Genesis was the one who had the biggest reaction to it. Angeal had watched him as Genesis had hugged him and muttered something into his shoulder. "You're more excited than I am," Angeal remarked to Genesis.

"Why aren't you happy? I'd be partying if I was you."

Angeal laughed, "I'll be sure to overreact when you get promoted, how's that sound?"

"Sounds fine to me," Genesis replied.

Lazard waited for them to calm down before he held out the clipboard. "Here's the information for your mission. It'll be a long one, so prepare accordingly. Angeal, your new rank means a new color. So, you can head over to the clothing area and get everything changed."

Sephiroth looked at their mission carefully when he noticed Lazard wasn't finished. His eyes went over to the blonde to figure out what else he needed to say.

"Sephiroth," the man warned. "I need you to behave. I'm not sure what's gotten into you lately but please straighten it out before going on this mission. Also, if anyone asks about the bandages please tell them something believable, and make it good."

Sephiroth felt miffed. The other two didn't get to be badgered and told to be good, but he did! It felt rather unfair. He didn't appreciate being put on the spot like that, either. "Whatever."

Lazard hesitated wondering if he should reinstate what he had said about his behavior but realized that it'd only make Sephiroth angrier. He gave a small sigh before waving his hand, "You can go now. You three be careful, and don't die on us."

They moved from the room and Sephiroth read through the mission objective before giving it to Genesis once the boy had finished preparing. When Angeal returned as well, looking spiffy in his new outfit, he looked at what the objective was over Genesis's shoulder and he snorted.

"A stealth mission, huh?"

"We get to go undercover and kill people," Genesis whispered as if the whole thing was a secret. "Isn't that great or what?"

"We have to gather information first," Sephiroth remarked. "That's the most important part of our mission. The killing is a last minute objective."

"What exactly are we trying to gather?"

"Any information on their tactics and where their other groups might be at. Also, see if they have any spies here in Midgar. It's quite possible that they do, but we can fish it out of them."

"Doesn't sound too hard. How long do you think we'll be undercover?"

Sephiroth pointed at the clipboard, "Few months. We'll be initiated into a Wutai group. We'll have to make up backgrounds, names, etc."

Genesis smiled, "Awesome. Can I make everything up?"

Sephiroth stared at Genesis wondering what he had in mind. "And what exactly would you say our background is?"

Genesis thought it over before he grabbed Sephiroth's and Angeal's arms. "I got it. Our village was exploited by Shinra for mako. At first we had to accept the consequences, but after unexplained events, most of the villagers began to die. Those that survived have been trying to join Wutai troops or taking care of the sick." Genesis nodded, "Yeah. If they ask about why our eyes are different it'll be our excuse. Mako got into our water system and that's what killed most of them."

Sephiroth felt very skeptical at first, but then realized that the story itself wasn't too bad to use. "What's the village name? They might know it."

"We should pick one that's been destroyed. Or just make one up."

"It'd be safer to pick one that exists," Angeal rationalized. "That way if they're suspicious of us they can check to make sure such a thing happened."

Genesis nodded before turning his eyes to Sephiroth. "What are we going to do about your eyes, though? Or your looks. They know who you are."

Sephiroth didn't have an answer for that. He knew that they would have to get in, but he wasn't sure how he would pull it off. Why was he on this mission anyway? "Good question."

"They wouldn't make you take it off, the attire. If you keep yourself fully clothed you should be fine," Angeal commented.

"We could say you're blind!" Genesis announced. "Just get weird contacts or something so you can see but they won't know you can."

Sephiroth nodded, "It could work. But if I'm blind why would they allow me into the squad?"

"Because you're an amazing fighter, that's why. Just because you don't have eyes doesn't mean your other senses suck. It's almost as if you can see without seeing. You know?"

"Understandable."

"It would at least keep one of us with you at all times, in case they split us up," Angeal noted. "I doubt they'd make a blind person go into different units by themselves."

Sephiroth agreed before turning to Genesis, "Thought of anything else for our background?"

Genesis shrugged. "Does Wutai have weird standards? Like…needing tribal tattoos or something weird like that?"

"I don't think so."

"Then we should be good. We just need names."

"Go by your last names, I doubt they'd pick up on them."

Genesis thought it over before he shook his head, "I don't know if I could. My name could be recognized."

"What's so recognizable about you?"

"Apple juice. And my dad's wealthy."

Sephiroth chuckled before smiling, "Then we can call you Jennifer. How's that?"

Genesis punched Sephiroth's arm, "Not funny."

"I don't know, I kind of think it fits," Angeal joked.

"Oh yeah? I think Angela fits for you," Genesis fired back. He felt victorious when he saw Angeal glare at him.

"That's doubtful. We should think of one for Sephiroth, anyway," Angeal mumbled. "He's the famous one."

Genesis glanced at Sephiroth and tried to think of a good name for him. "Sephiroth, do you have a last name? I don't think I've ever heard it."

"No, I don't. Last names are derived from parents, remember? I don't have any, so I don't have a last name."

"That sucks." And still didn't help their situation. He then started and grabbed Sephiroth's head abruptly causing the SOLDIER to instinctively snatch onto Genesis's arms. "I've got it! How's about Chrysanthemum?"

Sephiroth slowly raised an eyebrow, "You want to call me a flower?"

Genesis kept staring at him before nodding, "Yeah, you're right. Too close to your real name anyway. How's about Emerald?"

"What do you mean too close—and that's just as dumb."

"Don't be picky, it's just for a few months."

Angeal pulled Genesis back from Sephiroth, "Calm down, Genesis. Sounds like you're just describing his eyes."

"They are very pretty."

Sephiroth looked away at the compliment finding it rather embarrassing. "Just remember we don't want to stand out too much. We can't raise suspicions."

"That's okay. You can have the pretty name and Angeal and I can have normal names."

Sephiroth sighed, "Whatever. Are you prepared? We can discuss this on our trip there."

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

_When they said we were going to get dropped off I hadn't expected it'd be in such a remote area. The place is just dead! But what's worse is the fact that we have to get into our acts and change ourselves to prepare for our undercover mission. I'm excited and scared all at the same time, but I can't tell what will happen to us. Wandering into enemy territory like the way we are seems very dangerous. Hopefully they will not discover who we are…or at least…Sephiroth. He is the most recognizable out of the three of us. If he's caught I cannot imagine what will happen to him._

Genesis glanced between the two as they walked onward toward their unknown destination. His eyes went to Angeal who was wearing some scruffy garb. He looked like a weird street peddler than anything else. Genesis was wearing a ripped shirt and vest with some crazy pants and odd bandana around his neck, but it was Sephiroth that seemed the most ridiculous and least recognizable. They had braided his hair and stuck it to his head, then wrapped him up so that only his face showed. But to make sure he looked even more discernable, they dirtied him up and made him cover his nose and mouth, so the eyes were all they saw. They were clouded over, a serum that Hojo concocted for him that wouldn't damage his eyes and wouldn't wear off as long as he applied the drops to his eyes at night.

Unfortunately, they couldn't bring their usual blades with them. Any fancy weapon would more than likely be confiscated, so they opted for sticks, daggers, guns, and a plain blade. Only Sephiroth had requested to have a katana, it was a normal length one and didn't seem to have any significance about it.

"I feel ridiculous," Genesis murmured to them as they walked along the long plains.

"Ridiculous is part of our job description," Angeal mumbled back. "Now stop complaining in case someone hears you."

"Who? No one is out here."

"That's what you think," Sephiroth hissed. "Remember not to speak our names or who we work for."

Genesis nodded, "Yeah yeah. We're just from a piddly ass town that was overexploited and destroyed. We're seeking revenge together. We just left a nearby village that we've been staying in to try and heal our parents, but due to the events, they're dead."

"Glad you remembered it," Angeal replied. "You can be our spokesperson."

"Whoopee," Genesis mocked happiness. "How long do you think until we find someone or something?"

Sephiroth let his clouded eyes search the horizon carefully. There was a moment of silence between the three before he responded with an educated guess. "Three days."

"What? You can't be serious."

"I am. Considering our location and the terrain, plus the fact that you can't see anything in the distance, I've concurred that it'll be 3 days until we can find anything. That, of course, doesn't mean we'll actually meet them or find a place to rest. That's merely where we'll spot something useful, and then can guess how long it'll take for us to get there."

"The shit we do for—"

Sephiroth hissed and Genesis shut up. "What did I say?"

"Sorry."

"Stop complaining. Get into character. You're in grievance, but you should also be headstrong, and angered for the death of your parents. Think of something that upsets you and apply it now. We'll need to keep up this complex for a long time, and preparing yourselves is the best way to do it."

"I'm on it."

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

Sephiroth was quite right about it taking three days just to find anything. The plains were so flat and the area they were in was so hot, but it slowly started to get colder the further they went. By now it was a mild wind with a beautiful springtime. Genesis absolutely loved it, but he could tell that he should pay less attention to the world around him and more on the mission.

So, when they spotted something in the distance Genesis had smacked Sephiroth's arm. "Hey, look! I see something!"

Sephiroth glared at him, "I'm blind, remember? And yes, I see it."

Angeal glanced over at them. "Remember, no speaking our names."

"Okay, Angel Eyes," Genesis joked as he moved ahead of them.

Angeal glared at Genesis but found that Sephiroth had grabbed his arm. "No point in getting upset."

"I'm not. I just wished he'd take this a bit more seriously."

"He will once we meet the en—er…our comrades."

"By then I hope it isn't too late," Angeal muttered.

The place they were heading towards didn't feel like it was getting much closer, but after half a day of traveling it seemed they had reached some type of base the Wutai men were using. It seemed quite strange to be traveling and not be approached, but Sephiroth had deduced that they must have assumed they weren't going to be a problem. What kind of enemy would walk right up to the front door so casually as they had? Exactly.

"Someone's heading our way," Genesis mumbled as a group of men started to come forth to them dressed in the Wutai operative garb.

Sephiroth tensed slightly at seeing them, pretending not to see, and he instinctively put his hand on the hilt of his sword. As the two groups met face to face things had gone rather silent and the three SOLDIER operatives had grown sullen at their bad situation.

"We've been watching you for quite awhile. Who are you and why are you heading here?"

"We're from a village. We travelled here because we seek revenge against what has happened to our people," Genesis replied.

The enemy looked at each other before turning their eyes back to Genesis, the one who seemed to be talkative enough to say what they wanted. "Tell us."

Genesis gave their story, about the way Shinra ravaged through their homeland and had caused many problems for them until they couldn't stand it any longer. It seemed to darken the spirits of those they were talking to, but also give off a brotherly vibe.

"You've come to the correct place. I'm assuming you want to join in order to kill off Shinra scum, correct?"

Genesis nodded his head, "Yes. We won't rest until we've killed those bastards."

The leader laughed and nodded, "Good! We like that kind of spirit. We'll have to see how you fair in battle, though, before we can assign you anywhere. This is just a lookout base." The man strode forward. "Follow me." The three of them went into the building and found it dark and gloomy, but after going through a few doors they arrived back outside into a small court area where a few people were training. "What's your names?"

"Andy," Angeal remarked. Dumb name, but easy to remember thanks to Genesis.

"Jean," Genesis said next. He didn't like it at all, but he could deal with it for a few months.

Sephiroth hadn't been paying attention. His eyes were fixed onto the people battling like a man stuck in a trance.

Genesis looked at him and coughed a bit, "Um. And this is Emerald." They would have gone with Seth, because it was close to Sephiroth's name, but they concluded that having his code name too close to his real name would cause people to notice how similar he was to the 1st class SOLDIER, and that was the last thing they needed problems with.

The leader stared hard at Sephiroth before finally commenting on his behavior, "Is he just a part of your group or is he an actual fighter?"

"I'm an excellent fighter," Sephiroth finally replied.

"I wonder if you'll be a good warrior, though. You seem to be easily distracted."

"I was merely listening to the battles going on."

"Listening…" The man finally caught sight of Sephiroth's eyes. "You're blind?"

"Yes."

"And yet you're a good fighter?"

"One of the best."

He chuckled before losing his smile, "We'll see about that." He whistled and three men came bumbling over. "These boys want to get into our squad. Test them."

Genesis directed Sephiroth into position before settling beside him, Angeal on his other side. "Here goes nothing," Genesis muttered as he pulled forth the long stick he had sometimes used for walking.

The battle commenced quickly and flawlessly. Genesis was surprised at how fast Angeal and he had downed their opponents after several blows. Yet, their attention was all drawn toward Sephiroth. The man hadn't moved at all from his position and it seemed his opponent hadn't either. It was as if there was a stare down going on instead, but it was hard to win against the blind…

After several moments of silence the Wutai man had ran forth with his weapon high. Sephiroth stood confidently in his spot without grasping for any of his weapons yet. It wasn't until he was merely a foot away that Sephiroth had moved, and so quickly only Angeal and Genesis seemed to have picked up on it. He had crushed the hilt of his sword into the man's abdomen, dodged the weapon that was coming down on him and twisted himself to arrive behind the confused and hurt boy. When they all had caught up on seeing his appearance there the leader had called the fight off.

"You move…very quickly…for being disabled."

Sephiroth sheathed his katana and turned toward the voice. "One mustn't always trust the eyes to give them the advantage."

"I could hardly see him move," muttered one of the other lackeys that had been watching instead of doing his training. Another agreed with him.

The leader took note on the subject before he came forth and grabbed Sephiroth's arms. "You are magnificent. You…you three have definitely passed the test. I haven't seen anyone battle like that besides those bastard mako induced men they use against us. Such a disgrace…to be fighting something enhanced like that." His eyes caught onto Genesis's and Angeal's eyes. Though they weren't very bright, the hint of glow was there. "But…do tell that you aren't enhanced…are you?"

Genesis came forward, "Unfortunately we are, but against our wishes. The water in our village was filled with mako once Shinra brought his men in. We couldn't find water anywhere else, and so most of our people either adapted to it or were poisoned by it." Genesis shook his head before covering his eyes as if ashamed by the way he looked, and he stifled some tears. "Those who were poisoned…usually died."

It had struck the leader once again and he fed into the emotions Genesis was feeling. He grabbed Genesis's arm to comfort him. "We've all lost someone close to us. This planet is dying because of Shinra's greedy interests. They are sucking the resources and the very life out from it, and smothering us in his dirty hands. If we don't win this war then everyone on this world will die. That's because the planet will die, too."

Genesis felt so struck by those words. He had never really thought about what they were doing. Was Shinra wrong all this time?

He felt odd and had noticed Sephiroth had been staring at him very heavily, those clouded eyes giving him the chills as they seemed deadly set upon him. Genesis recovered from the impact of the words and gave a slight nod. "Right. So you said we've passed. Now what?"

The man quickly dropped his depressed state and straightened up. "I'll have my men take you over to the actual base. They'll get you suited up and put into some basic training, though I imagine you won't need much of it. From there you'll listen to the squad leader."

"Is the squad leader the head of the entire units, or is there a high ranking member at the base we're going to?" Sephiroth's question was casual enough that the man hadn't noticed the intentions on why he wanted to know.

"Oh yes, there's a higher leader of course. He's not in very often, at least to talk to the warriors unless we're going into battle. He's the main strategist, after all, it's important to keep him safe. Besides, he's also negotiating with all the other bases. I always thought it'd be best to divide up the information, but he thinks it's best that we believe in him holding it all. That isn't a problem, though, considering we haven't done battle in a long time."

Sephiroth nodded grimly. "I understand. Could it be arranged to meet him, though?"

"Quite possibly." He grew suspicious. "Why?"

"Part of tradition. It is good luck to pay respects to the highest ranking member. To do otherwise is asking for a bad omen to fall upon everyone. I wouldn't want that to happen."

"Oh, I see. Well, you'd have to ask around back at the base. I'm sure if you ask the right person they'd be able to arrange something for you. Would you boys like to eat first before you go? We have some food prepared that we wouldn't mind sharing."

Angeal nodded, "We wouldn't mind at all."

The meal they went to was rather pleasant and cheerful with the other men there. It seemed after they warmed up to the thought of the three men being on their side it was uplifting to imagine powerful people on their side for once. Everyone talked about their families and worries, thoughts and contemplations about the future, informing each other of the possibility of upcoming battles and what not. For Genesis it made him feel strangely unaware of his surroundings. The battle for him wasn't on his home turf. Thankfully Banora was on an island far away from Wutai. Yet these people were experiencing daily problems with the thought of their families getting hurt, or not returning to their loved ones. One man had been quite happy to show off his family photos, brandishing his little boy and girl that were snuggled up with his beautiful wife in his arms. Genesis couldn't believe how guilty he was feeling for these men. They didn't seem like the enemy…they didn't talk like it.

"I'm sorry, it's rather rude of me to show these photos when one of you can't see."

It had pulled Genesis from his gloomy thoughts to stare at the owner of the photos. At first he wanted to ask what he meant, but remembered Sephiroth's fake condition. His eyes turned up to Sephiroth before bringing themselves back to the figure before them. "It happens. Though, just because he can't see doesn't mean he doesn't understand."

"True."

The boy beside him looked young and inexperienced to the entire ordeal, just as much as Genesis was he could imagine. But his joyous look did make him smile. He watched him carefully as he seemed hesitant to say anything to them, as if shy on any subject. "And what's your story?"

The boy seemed a bit flustered at the question before smiling happily at being asked. "Mine? I. Well. I joined because my older brother did. We've been split up, but…it seemed like the right thing to do, right?"

Angeal shrugged at the words. "Depends. How's your parents?"

"Oh. My mother lives in Wutai with my younger brother and she is doing well."

"You realize as a warrior here you must be very careful, yes? Your life is important to your mother. But you must be extra cautious…to die in battle would mean your brother must be the one to be careful. You wouldn't want to put anymore pressure on him, I imagine. And for both of you to die would mean too much grief for your mother. Think wisely on each step you take, you don't want it to be your last," Angeal calmly consoled him.

"Th-Thanks."

"Don't scare him to death," Genesis replied back.

"I'm not scaring, merely cautioning him."

"He might not do anything with the way you worded it. And taking no action at all is just as bad as taking too much action."

Sephiroth chuckled, "You two contradict each other."

"It's what we do best," Genesis joked. "I don't hear you speaking up to help him out."

"What's there to say? Sometimes you're lucky, sometimes you're not."

The boy wasn't sure whether to feel glad about that or not. The three of them had such strange personalities. "Fate…can be pretty cruel I guess?"

Sephiroth nodded, "It's very cruel."

Genesis felt so chilled by those words. Fate was cruel. Sephiroth was cruel, because he'd be the reason why everyone would die.

Their time with the soldiers had ended not long after that and their ride over to the real base was very quiet between them all. They decided to take chocobos, something that Genesis found to be rather fun besides having to share it with Sephiroth. The man seemed the least excited about the animals and had remarked under his breath about walking almost being more preferable. He didn't know why Sephiroth felt so hated toward the creatures, but he decided not to comment on it.

It was very late in the night when they reached the base. Genesis's legs felt like they were permanently stuck in the wide legged sitting position, but after straightening up and stretching he did feel better. He could hear Sephiroth grumbling to himself, which he could only imagine as curses toward the feathery animal. He instinctively grabbed Sephiroth's arm and started to lead the way after the others.

They were greeted by one of the squad leaders who seemed cheerful enough to receive more members. He blabbed on and on about their expectations, the rules, and the goal that they would achieve. They were shown a room to settle in that they unfortunately had to share with several other Wutai members. Luckily with Sephiroth's disability it meant they could spend time together. The first thing they got were their uniforms and other clothing to wear at night, then they were allowed to go bathe and fix themselves up. Genesis acted like he was helping Sephiroth and was glad to find that the bath areas were all separated with walls between each one, though it still didn't seem private.

Sephiroth was very cautious, but once he got into the bath and started to wash he felt rushed to finish. No one could see his hair or body or else they'd know. He put in a few drops of the odd concoction into his eyes to keep them clouded and then turned his attention to Genesis. "We must be very careful. This might be the only time we'll get to talk to each other."

"Okay," Genesis replied softly. "Now that we're in what's our main objective?"

"The information. We'll have to find a way to get it out of everyone. The squad leader seemed talkative. We can easily make friends with some of the boys around here as well. But it's important that we find a way to get in contact with the highest ranking person here. We can gather the most information out of them. But we'll want to do that last, understand?"

"Why last?"

"Because we'll have to kill him after we get the information out. We need to win everyone's trust here and slowly move our way up."

"I see." Genesis watched as Sephiroth washed his hair roughly and then looked away to check and make sure they were alone. No one else had seemed to enter. His eyes went back to Sephiroth and he kept on watching him wash.

The 1st class SOLDIER had noticed Genesis's eyes weren't leaving his body and he felt uncomfortable. A few months of allowing Genesis or Angeal to watch him bathe seemed like more than he had bargained for. "Do you mind?"

Genesis continued to stare as if Sephiroth's words weren't made toward him. "I'm helping you." His whisper was rather soft and hadn't been echoed throughout the bathhouse. Still, his words nerved Sephiroth.

"You don't have to stare."

"Sorry." Yet Genesis didn't stop staring at him.

"You're getting on my nerves."

"I know."

"Would you stop?"

"I'm not doing anything."

"Yes you are!"

"Are you embarrassed? Did you want some alone time? I didn't know you did those things while bathing…although I guess it'll wash away readily enough."

Sephiroth felt perplexed at those words. "What? No! You…whatever. I'm not going to fight with you right now."

"No shit, I wouldn't either. You're naked, after all."

Sephiroth huffily squeezed the water out of his hair, "Well I'm finished." He almost rose before he pointed at Genesis. "Turn around."

"Why? I've already seen you naked before."

"So?"

"I can watch you dry off."

Sephiroth couldn't believe he had to argue about this. "I don't want you watching."

"Okay…I'm turned around," Genesis replied though he didn't move.

"You're an ass," Sephiroth remarked.

"What? I'm totally turned around."

"You…" It wasn't like Sephiroth could speak anything about seeing that he wasn't. He felt so pathetic. "I hate you."

"Just get your clothes on, sugar, so I can do your hair."

Sephiroth got up and started to dry off while Genesis watched him. He wasn't sure what he felt about all of this. Embarrassed? Angered? Flustered? A combination of all of them it seemed. But what really got to him was actually seeing that Genesis was enjoying the show. He would have made a snappy comment but saw Angeal come up behind the boy to spin him around.

"Hey, quit gawking. Go bathe, I'll keep watch here, you perv. You can do his hair when you're done. Don't give me that look, go do it."

Genesis had walked off and Sephiroth felt rather relieved that Angeal had stepped in, though he also still felt that burning embarrassment in having to deal with that situation. Pitiful he couldn't do anything about it!

"Don't let him get under your skin."

Sephiroth finished dressing and shook his head, "He doesn't bother me."

"Right," Angeal replied doubtfully.

"Okay, it bothers me but I don't have the patience to care."

"Not doing anything about it only encourages him."

"Doing something about it also encourages him. There is no 'off' button on him."

"Very true. You just have to keep him occupied with other things. Anyway, if we keep him focused on…family and goals…I think it'll be best for him."

Sephiroth caught the words and he nodded, "Right. We're not here to be…selfish, we're here to revenge what we've lost. What everyone's lost."

"Precisely. No room for games."

"Indeed."

It didn't take Genesis long to bathe and get dressed. He came over to the other two who had been whispering softly and he grabbed up Sephiroth's long hair, working his fingers through it. "It's still wet."

"Put it up anyway. It'll dry later."

Genesis let his fingers work away at the mass of hair, moving it this way and that until he got it all pinned up and helped Sephiroth put on another head cover. He let Sephiroth adjust the face mask before looking at Angeal. "How's he look?"

"Gorgeous."

Sephiroth sighed and waved his hand, "Lead me out of here."

"All right, beautiful."

When they crawled into bed all three of them had been thoroughly exhausted. It seemed as if they were so constantly on guard that by now they could actually relax since no one had any suspicions on them. They respected that Sephiroth seemed to have some odd family tradition, that Genesis was the talker, and that Angeal kept to himself. For being in enemy territory, it almost felt like home.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

The first week of living in the base had been nerve-wracking. They all were constantly on each other's tails making sure no one screwed up or did anything in front of the enemy. Yet, as the week had come down to an end they started to feel more relaxed in their different identities. It was easier to start accepting that they were these alternate beings that had no relation to the person they once were.

But all it did was make Genesis far more curious. Sephiroth had kept strictly to a strong family association, linking heavily toward a religious aspect practically to who he was. His identity seemed the most drastic compared to who he really was, but his words made people feel eased that he was 'one of those' guys. Yet, even if Sephiroth was just saying it as a different person, was it true for the real identity?

Genesis had to know…was it all a lie?

The three of them had realized that they did have quite a lot of time to be off on their own and it was accepted just as everything else was. No one seemed to think twice about them. And so late at night they'd take long walks outside where they could easily discuss things and know that not a single Wutai soldier could hear them.

It was one of these nights that Genesis decided to inquire about Sephiroth's past.

They had been slowly walking and admiring the starlit sky when Genesis had decided to speak up. It took him awhile to think of the right way to ask it, but after checking around them he let it spill. "Your…stories about your past. The family stuff. Is…any of it true?"

Sephiroth glanced around as well before he shook his head, "You know I have no family, of course it isn't real."

"I see. I…just feel like I'm in the same boat as everyone else, here. I don't know much about your past…though I wish I did. I could just believe what you say to these people and accept that it's all I'll ever get out of you."

Sephiroth slowed down and took a seat on a makeshift bench that someone had made in their spare time. He felt uncomfortable about Genesis asking him these things. They were supposed to stay undercover, not throw off their masks once the moon struck the sky. "What is there to know? You know where I grew up and that I turned out fine. Isn't that all you need?"

"I wanted to know about your relationship with….the Professor. The night I was with Rufus. He mentioned you were hulled up in the labs a lot. Why is that? What did he want with you?"

"I…don't want to discuss that."

Genesis stared at Sephiroth's face, but watched as he looked away. "Seph—"

"Quiet."

"Please…"

"Please, what?" Sephiroth glared at him. "I don't want to talk about him."

Gently Genesis put his hand on Sephiroth's arm and was glad that he didn't retract from the touch. He wished he could calm him, let him break from the shell he had created over all these years. "You…don't have to keep everything a secret. I'm your friend. What bothers you bothers me. I can tell that you hold back a lot of things because you're unsure of what may happen if they ever got out. But…you can trust me."

Sephiroth shook his head, "How do I know I can trust you?"

"Because…" Genesis felt the emotions build up in him but he did his best to keep it down. Slowly he let his hand slide down Sephiroth's arm and he tightly grasped his hand. At first he couldn't speak any words, but knew he'd have to. "I don't know. You might just…say it's a dumb reason. But…you can trust me because….I love you. And I wouldn't want to cause you any pain, so I would find no reason to tell anyone else anything you tell me unless you said it was okay."

Sephiroth tugged his hand away from Genesis's grasp and crossed his arms over his chest. "I don't understand why you like me that way after what's happened. You know the feelings will never be returned."

"I know," Genesis quickly cut in. "Seeing you is a constant reminder of that fact. And I feel…" Genesis shrugged. "I don't know. I feel like the pain is unbearable but…something I want to live with."

"Why would you cause yourself that kind of misery?"

"Because you're worth it. Because…anything else I've tried I've only made things worse. You'll always hate me and I'll always love you. It's how it'll always be."

"I don't hate you," Sephiroth defended himself.

"Yes you do."

"No, I don't. Don't say things like that."

"It's true." Genesis kept his eyes on the ground before him. "I can tell you do. It's just the way you act."

"And what do I do that makes you think I hate you?"

Genesis let the silence fill in the gap for awhile before speaking again, his voice was low so that only Sephiroth would be able to hear. "You don't like being around me. You prefer Angeal as a helper than me. And when you're stuck with me you're really reluctant. For being a friend you don't act like much of one toward me. It's like you're…constantly annoyed that I'm around, like I don't matter. And if I ever put you on the spot you either deny it or put it back on me. You're always trying to mislead me or push me away whenever we talk." Genesis rubbed his brow and gave a small sigh. "I feel like after our fight…when we tried to make things better we only made things worse. I guess not for you, but I don't feel like…" He choked up a bit but swallowed and continued. "I don't feel like anything got any better for me."

"It's because you want something you can't have—"

"No, it's not even that. I can live with that. I've been living with that. Every day and every night has been like that for me since the beginning. But it's the fact that you wanted just a friendship. I want to be your friend…but you treat me like I'm something far from that. Sometimes I wonder if you meant you wanted a friendship with someone other than me. You've obviously obtained Angeal after going through me—"

"That's not what I meant at all, and don't even think that's what happened or is happening. I do want to be friends with you, but I still feel uncomfortable around you. You don't even realize half the things you do that make you hard to be around. You're constantly flirting. I don't want to give you ideas that it's acceptable that you do that. I don't mean to hurt you but I'm not going to let it continue to happen."

"I don't even mean anything when I flirt."

"You just admitted you loved me, how could that not mean anything?"

"Because I know that you're opposed to me. It's not like I'm trying anything. I always flirt with everyone. You're no different."

"How am I supposed to know that?"

"Because I just told you. And because after you caused me enough agony I know there's no point in ever hoping or thinking that you'll ever like me. I know you never will. Does that mean I have to act differently around you then everyone else?"

"Perhaps you should take it into consideration."

Genesis glared and then looked away again, the bitter feeling turning into the aching sensation of his heart. "Fine. I'll work on stopping." He felt like all his complaints meant nothing…and now he was being punished. He always felt that way. "I don't even know why I bothered trying to talk to you." Genesis got up. "Let's go back. Your friend must be missing you."

Sephiroth felt the sting of his words. "You're upset."

"If you don't get up I'm going to leave without you and you'll have to bullshit your way back."

"Don't act like this right now, not here—"

Genesis sighed and stared at him. "Act like what? We can't stay out all night. We have things to do tomorrow."

"You're acting hurt that I told you to stop flirting."

Genesis shook his head, "No. I am hurt, but I'm not acting it out. I'm telling you that it's time to go to bed."

"I don't want to pretend things are okay if they're not."

Genesis gave a small laugh before losing the smile he had. "God, nothing has ever been okay, Sephiroth. I wake up miserable, I go to bed miserable. You make me feel like shit. I've felt like this ever since you told me you were toying with me out of pity. And it gets worse the more I'm around you. You ask me to do all of these stupid ridiculous things. Stop staring, stop asking, stop flirting, stop talking, stop everything. You just…hate me. This mission just made me realize that you tell more stories to these people then you'd ever dare to tell me. And you want me as a friend. What kind of friend am I if you can't even stand me? I'm not a friend at all. I'm an obstacle to you. I feel like one. I keep trying and you reject me as harshly as you did before. I thought I was emotionally stable when we started the trip…but I feel as if I just lied to myself and I've finally realized the problem is still apparent and getting worse. I'm a nuisance. That's all I am. It's all I've ever amounted to." Genesis looked over at the base and felt as if the building itself was taunting him. "Just because I love you doesn't mean I'm going to do anything. I just…wanted to make you happy. But…the only thing that makes you happy is not having me around."

Sephiroth felt sick about all of it. He hadn't meant to cause this much of a rift between them. "I'm sorry."

"Sorry about what? It's not your fault you don't like me. It's always going to be my fault somehow. It always is."

"Please don't say that." Sephiroth had to think quickly, though his mind felt muddled with all the information he was getting. "Sit down for a minute. We can leave in a little while." He waited for Genesis to sit before he spoke to him. "I don't hate you. Don't say that I do. You are my friend…I just…never had one before, so…I suppose this is why you have to go through so much. I didn't mean for it to get this emotional or this detrimental for you. I…apologize for that. As for the…reactions toward you. I've been really uncomfortable with you because you love me, that is true. But you're getting the reason wrong. I don't mind…that you like me. I suppose I find it silly but I won't ask you to change your mind or anything. But I've always felt as if I should be on my guard. Since our previous fights we've had I've been trying to…to keep myself from letting that happen again. I thought if I let you act the way you usually do toward me that it'd fall back in the same rut. I don't want to go through that again. Do you understand what I mean?" He stared at Genesis but noticed he didn't signal yes or no. "I was doing what I thought best. I had no idea that though you act the same you think differently. It's not something I'm used to. So when I hurt you…it's always an accident. I can never tell until it's too late, and I have a hard time trying to fix it. I know it might sound obvious or stupid, but you should tell me if I'm upsetting you. It'd…cause less problems like this."

Genesis took it all in before turning his eyes to Sephiroth's. Though they were clouded he could tell the man was looking at him. "Why didn't you have friends before?"

"Because of Hojo."

There was silence before Genesis gave a slight laugh, "God…we made a full circle. Will you tell me or…should we just head in? I don't want to start another fight."

Sephiroth wasn't sure what to say. If he said head in, would Genesis take that as him being closed off? But it was late… "Tomorrow…remind me. We can talk then."

Genesis nodded before he rose again and helped Sephiroth back to the base, exhausted but relieved at their fight. For some reason…he felt as if he needed the quarrel to better understand Sephiroth. And hopefully Sephiroth would be able to understand him in return.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

"So….Hojo," Genesis remarked. It was the next night and they had returned to their spot on the bench. For some reason Genesis felt like it was more déjà vu than anything else. Hopefully it was different this time around…

"Right. Hojo was…a scientist, as he's always been. Science is just something he does…always experimenting and always looking for something to experiment on. As a parentless child, I come under no restrictions. What happens to me was to be covered up if ever found out. I don't know the details on why the President allowed for me to stay in his building, or why no one had asked about me, but…I lived nonetheless. Scarlet, the one you're obsessed over, she was an acting mother in some senses. Hojo, in that case, was somewhat of a father. Scarlet made sure I stayed out of the public's eye, or that if I did I looked presentable, while Hojo…" Sephiroth dropped the subject. He uncomfortably shifted himself so that he didn't have to see Genesis's expression. "Hojo…did what he did best."

"Science. On you?"

"On me."

"What…did he do?"

"He…always told me he never did a thing to me. He claims he never tampered with me…that he merely pushed me to realize who I am and what I'm capable of. But it's him. His words are never clear…they never make complete sense. I can't trust him but I have to. He's good at misleading people…but he's good at making you believe it's the right path." Sephiroth tried to think of specific examples, but he wished not to remember. "It's hard to talk about."

"I…see. Was it anything…physical?"

"Of course. He's done a lot of tests on me that I probably shouldn't have allowed to happen. But those are the easier ones to bear with. It's the psychological ones that really mess everything up."

"Mind games…"

"Yes. Hojo's good at those." Sephiroth sighed and rubbed his temple before remembering something. "He's why I don't have friends. I said that last night, but I can explain what I meant. You see, I was introduced to Rufus around the age of five. I had never interacted with someone my age before, so I was cautious but glad to find someone my size. But after our first meeting, Hojo had told me that although it's fine to get to know people, I should never let anyone near me. Supposedly friends are…people who want to cause you problems, make you unhappy…" He shook his head. "I believed everything he said. Even if I was around Rufus I did my best to stay as mysterious as I was to him the first day we met."

"It…must have been hard to see that it's the opposite, right?"

"I don't know. My experiences have never put me under the circumstance of needing friends, or at least the resources weren't available. Rufus was being educated by the finest and he had other kids to be around. As for me, a person stuck in a building and shielded for a good portion of it, all I remember are adults. Kids aren't friends with adults. I've always known there was a separation between those around me and myself. So…even at this age, when people around me could be candidates, I've been so used to dealing with things by myself that I found no use in gaining friends now. Why bother…when what I was doing seemed to be working?"

"But…now you have friends."

"It's still…trial and error for me. I don't quite understand how to act let alone how people should act toward me."

"But you're learning, and that's good."

Sephiroth agreed with a gentle nod. There was still more that Genesis didn't know. "He'd…humiliate me daily. I don't know what he was trying to do. I just remember that his remarks were never kind to me. Actually, I remember…once that he had given me something that caused me to vomit all over myself, and I couldn't stop. He told me to clean it up. It was…at that time that Rufus had entered the lab areas looking for me. I begged Hojo not to let him see me like that, but he had done the opposite. There were so many emotions going through me at that moment, but the strongest one I felt was shame."

"You felt ashamed of yourself? But you couldn't help what happened to you."

"It didn't matter."

"That seems…pretty harsh that he'd treat you like that."

"Well…you wondered why I was so different. There's your answer."

Genesis felt bad for making him speak up about Hojo. It was obvious it was extremely personal for Sephiroth. He knew he should have allowed the man to keep to himself, but then again…look at why he had been doing so in the first place! Hojo had made him that way. "Did you ever really think of Hojo as a…father?"

Sephiroth gave a bitter laugh, "No. Far from it. He was just the only person that said more than a few words to me. I've known some operatives when I was growing up, but most died. You can't cling onto someone that is in this line of work."

"So…you stuck with the mad scientist instead."

"He wasn't going to die anytime soon, it seemed like a good idea."

"Could have exploded chemicals all over himself," Genesis rationalized.

Sephiroth smiled, "I always wished he would. Just so I could be the one laughing instead of him."

"Maybe you should ignore him. You'd do better hanging around us instead. Who needs scientists anyway?"

Sephiroth thought it over and wanted to reason with Genesis but knew it'd be pointless. Genesis was trying to show him that he cared. It…was starting to make a lot more sense. "Well, I won't need him as long as you two don't die on me."

Genesis smiled at that. He had expected Sephiroth would disagree with him, but for once they were on the same plane. "Don't worry…we won't die. Not now, anyway."

"I'll hold you to that," Sephiroth replied before glancing toward the base. He noticed someone coming their way and realized it was Angeal. He waited for the man to get closer before calling out to him. "Andy."

"Emerald," Angeal remarked and glanced at Genesis, "Jean."

"What brings you out here?" Genesis asked casually.

"Just making sure you're not trying to have children."

Genesis shook his head, "Emerald needs ovaries for that."

Sephiroth glared, "What makes me the woman in this?"

Angeal replied, "Your inexperience," while Genesis said, "Your hips." Either way, Sephiroth didn't like the answer.

"Sorry I'm not a whore like _some_ people."

Genesis snorted at his words. Was he calling him a whore? "Oh please, it's not like I do it on purpose."

"Your dick just happens to wind up in other men?" Angeal asked quizzically. "That sounds like a bad nightmare."

"You know…there's one person I wouldn't mind experiencing that with," Genesis pondered before grabbing onto Sephiroth's thigh.

Sephiroth's eyes widened before he slapped Genesis's hand away. "Do you mind?"

Genesis almost made a flirty joke when he remembered the conversation they had yesterday. He dropped the smile and kept his hands to himself. "I was just joking. Anyway…should probably get back into character. Don't want anyone noticing us acting weird."

"Genesis, you're always weird," Angeal commented.

"You're just jealous."

"Of what? You grabbing up other guys? Not so much."

Sephiroth had to interrupt the conversation. But it was still relevant to the topic, "I heard the leader at this base is returning soon."

"That's cool," Genesis muttered. "What's our plan?"

"Well…from what I gathered from the others, he's got an interest in men. We could use that to our advantage."

Angeal knew what Sephiroth was going to suggest and he had a really bad feeling about that. "Dare I ask your plan of attack?"

"Jean can get the information from him."

Genesis's face went a ghastly white. "What? Are you fucking kidding me?"

"No. You flirt all the time, you could do it the easiest."

"If he likes guys he'd take my advances for granted and will bend me over a table."

"Well that's a risk we'll have to take."

"Fuck you, I'm not going to do that! Why don't you risk your ass instead?"

"Because you pull it off better. Besides, you just have to act stupid. Mention that you're curious about the bases surrounding us, what he does…you know, the basics. Don't ask too much but enough that we can gather some information on it all and send it back to Lazard."

"How the heck do you expect me to do that without getting hurt?"

"If he likes you enough I'm sure he can wait."

"Right. Some grunt going up to the high command and somehow persuading him to 'hold off' until the wedding day sounds like a great plan," Genesis remarked sarcastically.

"Seduce him. Entice him. Do something! Make him interested but keep him guessing on if you're available. We have to get this information. If we don't, we're fucked. I don't know how long he'll be here and we can't waste time. Once we get enough information we'll have to wipe out this entire base. Do you understand that? We're in a dangerous place and we can't stay here any longer than expected or else someone is going to notice something about us."

Genesis had a really bad feeling about it all. What was he to do, though? He had to finish the mission…and he didn't want Sephiroth telling Lazard that he had done a bad job. He'd have to go through with it… "Fine. If something happens the blame is going on you."

Sephiroth quietly nodded. He just hoped that whatever happened…it'd go smoothly.

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

The day that the base leader arrived everyone was in a celebrating mood. Everyone had the day off from training and working to relax and catch up on the news of the other bases. The man had talked for a good hour or so about his recent updates, and the trio listened carefully and made mental notes for later use. But once the partying started the leader had gone off to his own chambers. Sephiroth nudged Genesis to head after him and the redhead felt his heart start to pound in his chest.

_The things I do for Shinra. I don't know how I'll pull this off. I only flirt with good looking people, not people like him. Jeez, he looked like he had enough muscle on him to kill someone by flexing. And Sephiroth thinks I'm good at this. Pah. He's such an ass sometimes…_

Genesis had wormed through the crowd and made his way after the leader. He was surprised that no one was protecting him, but as he thought it over it did make sense. Wasn't like a base leader was that important…

He stepped into the room and coughed slightly to announce his presence. His heart sunk to the pits of his stomach upon seeing him up close. He had scars on his face and had a missing tooth. Genesis didn't feel attracted at all, but it might have been because he felt intimidated being in the room with him. The man definitely had bulging muscles that could snap Genesis in half. "Um...sir."

"Is there something you need?"

"I…actually am new here. I would have asked someone else, but I didn't want to ruin everyone's celebration with questions. I noticed you left…so would it be okay if I asked you instead?"

The man smirked and showed off the gaping hole. "Depends on the question, newbie. What would you like to know?"

"I…suppose the basics. You…the bases…how everything works. I wasn't told much."

The leader sized up Genesis before he strode over to him, towering over the poor figure. "Well…I don't like to relay information without a little payment. And it's been awhile since I've had a taste of redhead…" His hand brushed Genesis's cheek and played through his hair. Genesis was utterly frozen. This was what he didn't want to happen, but he knew he couldn't dodge out of it. If he refused it meant no answers, and if he obliged he'd hate his life forever.

"I-I…I don't understand?"

"You will soon enough. Take your clothes off. Get in bed."

Genesis felt his body become covered in goosebumps. At first he didn't do anything and could feel the impatience of the leader. Then he started to take off his clothes, slowly, but at a good enough pace that it soothed the leader's anger.

Meanwhile, back at the celebration, Angeal and Sephiroth were being treated to drinks and hearing stories from their comrades about odd battles they've been to and fascinating survival stories. Sephiroth tried to get any information out of them in hopes of having matching information as Genesis's, if the man could get anything out of the leader.

"So some of you have been to other bases? How many are there?"

"Oh quite a few, really," one man replied as he sat across from Sephiroth and sloppily downed his drink. "There's a cluster of them surrounding Wutai itself, and the island itself. Mostly on the coastlines. Safest that way, supposedly. But the rest of us, just like ourselves, are bordering the coasts of the rest of the western continent. You know, near Rocket Town and such. It's so that we have protection against any other problems Shinra might ship at us."

"Of course, that's understandable. But just the coastlines?"

"We've got a few others inland, but none too far from the rest. We try to keep at least within 10 miles of each other. It's safest to have a place to retreat to if you're attacked."

"Oh, I see. I heard that you have spies everywhere. Is that even true?"

"A little bit. We've slipped some into Midgar, right at Shinra's footsteps, you know? Got guys dressed up as infantrymen and everything. Not SOLDIER, though. None of us have been able to match up to those mako induced freaks." The man stared at their eyes for a minute and then frowned. "Sorry. I forgot what happened to you guys. Though you're different. It was an accident that you got tainted. And anyway, maybe it's fate that it happened to you? I imagine the Planet is pissed at Shinra for abusing it, so it's giving us some people to fight back. Right?"

"That's quite possible…never thought of it that way," Angeal murmured. It was a good enough way to cover up their lies.

"Why are we here and not fighting?"

The man's eyes landed back on Sephiroth and he shrugged, then remembered Sephiroth couldn't see. "Don't know. I suppose we're not fighting the world, we're mostly fighting Shinra. We wait for them to arrive and then we attack. Besides, Shinra hasn't set up many bases. Yes, he occupies all the cities you could shake a stick at, but we're not about to go in and try to bust through all of them. Everyone would be bombarding us by then."

"Do you know how many people are in each base?"

"Aha! If I knew that I'd be the leader. I haven't the slightest clue. We're spread out pretty evenly, but one base we have is the strongest."

"Which one?"

"Fort Tamblin. It's on the island. If that's taken we're all toast. Not that Shinra will ever get on the island without us noticing. They'd have to drive through all of us to do that."

Sephiroth nodded his head, "You're right. I doubt they'd be able to kill all of us."

"The only person in Shinra we're scared to meet is Sephiroth. Heard he's a real brute. Survivor stories hardly ever happen when someone meets him. Oh, but I know just the person for that." The man turned and shouted for someone to come over to them. Sephiroth and Angeal tensed wondering how this would go. If someone had actually met Sephiroth before they could be in danger. They might recognize his voice, or see through his clouded eyes… "Here we are. Tell them about your encounter with the super SOLDIER."

The man's eyes widened as he sat down and he took a long drink before sighing. "Where to begin? It was one of our bases near Nibelheim. The place was colder than shit, absolutely miserable. It was nighttime and we had gotten information that Shinra operatives were coming our way. No big deal, right? We've combated those bastards for months, we were prepared. And we thought we had the advantage, what with knowing the terrain. But then we had people rushing in all over, shouting that something was wrong. Completely chaotic, no one had their minds set straight. I tried to order them to fight, to keep going, but I looked out the window and saw the bastard standing there. We had all heard stories about him. Cold-blooded murderer. He'd wipe out bases in seconds flat no matter who was inside. I even heard stories that he raped one of the base leader's wives, then chopped off her head and killed the husband by using her skull as a weapon. Anyway, I had only spotted him for a second. He had already entered into the base and everyone was trying to escape, grabbing all the weapons they could to prepare themselves for the worst. I don't even remember who died or when, but my God…when he entered into our room it felt like it was too quick to even comprehend. He sliced through them all like butter, their blood spraying everywhere and all over him but it was as if bathing in the life blood of them somehow energized him to go on. And then it was my turn to die, but I didn't want to. Hell, no one wants to die at his hands. Yet there he was, blazing green eyes meeting mine. He had the queerest smile on his face…half crazed and half joyous that he was ending a human's life. He struck me in the stomach and ripped me upwards, but I had moved slightly to the right and he missed my vitals. I dropped down like I had been killed because I was too terrified to fight and prepared to die right then and there. But I didn't." The man lifted his shirt and showed the scar. It looked terrible, but it was definitely a clean cut. Whoever had stitched it seemed to be new at doing it, so it had healed improperly, looking worse than it should have been. "He left without checking to see if any of us were breathing. I think it's because he wants us to lie there in agony, slowly dying and knowing that we're going to die, causing you to go…mad. I've seen kids break down when it happens. Terrible thing…" He shook his head and grabbed another drink, taking several thirsty swallows from it before returning to the story. "I didn't have anyone with me to help. I stitched it up and bandaged myself in the clothes of people surrounding me, then had to go and call in the boss about what happened. Of course, calling in for us meant walking to the nearest village and sending snail mail." He gave a deep sigh before taking one last drink. "I hope to God I never see him again. I cheated death once, I won't be able to do it again."

Sephiroth was entranced at the story the man had told them. He never knew what anyone thought of him, but hearing this one survivor enlightened him greatly. They all thought him some kind of monster. It was scary and fascinating all at the same time. Yet, he couldn't believe they had made up stories of him raping women. He supposed that was normal for 'villains' though.

"Well…I'm sure we're safe for now," Angeal assured him.

"Yeah. I'm going to head, see you guys later," the man remarked and he got up.

The one they were previously talking to smiled at them. "See what I mean? If that son of a bitch comes here we're toast."

"It'd be unfortunate if that happened," Sephiroth replied.

"You know what really gets me? We had him once. The whole of Shinra was squirming when we had him. It was great…the stories we heard about what they did to him… No one survived in that area, but word had slipped out previously to their deaths. The fucker was tortured to death. Supposedly was fucked 'til he couldn't see straight. Then somehow he got away. I don't know how. No one does. Shinra never released information on it and since no one survived…" the man shrugged. "It's a mystery. I'm guessing the guy boning him wanted more action and cut him loose, thinking the guy was so lifeless he wouldn't do anything. Though, that's just my guess."

Sephiroth felt sick to his stomach about the subject. Remembering how he was handled there made him lose interest in trying to get information out of them. "Well, though I'd like to stay and chat, I want to go out and stretch my legs. Andy…"

Angeal stood up, "Right. Thanks for the talk."

The man nodded, "Yeah, no problem."

When they got outside Angeal kept his eyes on Sephiroth, wondering what was going on in his head. The tortures, more than likely. Was any of it true? "Were you…?"

"No, I wasn't. And I don't rape women either. They don't know what happened there."

"I see. Neither does Shinra."

"They don't need to know."

"If it bothers you and makes you weak…they do need to know."

"I'm fine," Sephiroth hissed under his breath. "Forget about it."

"Okay…" Angeal knew to drop the subject, but now his mind was set on something different. "So…why send in Genesis to the leader if we could easily get all the information from these people?"

"I'm double checking the information. The leader will know the most and the best information. If Genesis is successful, we'll be able to relay it all to Lazard and get out of here by the end of the week."

"This was supposed to take months, though."

"We have to stop at other bases. We get information, we destroy the people here. We know where the other bases are because Lazard will have them picked out for us. We infiltrate and destroy a few more before we pull back. We can't do too many at once or else their guard will be up at everything."

"How is this a three man job?" Angeal questioned the logic in it all.

"You heard the story. I can kill people faster than you can imagine."

"Yeah, and you can beat husbands with their wives' skulls apparently."

Sephiroth cracked a small smile, "I suppose you'll have to see for yourself how fast I work."

"Yeah, that'd be nice to know in case I ever have to face off with you. I'll throw Genesis in the way to distract you with his flirting and I'll stab you in the back."

"I hope that he's normal after he's done with the leader."

"What do you mean? You said that if he acted correctly he'd be able to get out without getting hurt."

Sephiroth fell silent for awhile and Angeal could tell he was holding something back. "I lied. The rumors I heard were that he nabbed you if you were dumb enough to go near him."

"My God, Sephiroth!"

"Shhh," Sephiroth hissed at him and looked around to make sure they were still alone.

"Don't you shush me, you just sent my friend to go get raped by some guy! What were you thinking? That he'd just go with it?"

"He'll recover, it won't be that bad. He's done it before."

"With people he knows and likes. This is completely different. Against his will. You forced him to go in there!"

Sephiroth looked at Angeal and noticed how irritated he was. It wasn't what he was expecting. "The mission—"

"Can fuck itself. I'm going in to get him."

"You can't!" Sephiroth snapped at him.

"I'm going to kill the bastard, then kill everyone else. They're all drunk and fucked over anyway."

"Wait, he might not have the information yet—"

"I don't really care!" Angeal shoved Sephiroth back. "He's my friend and I'm going to protect him from severe psychological problems." Angeal moved back for the entrance and Sephiroth caught his arm.

"You can't do it alone, I'm coming with."

"Then hurry it up."

They slinked back into the busy place and made their way casually to the hallway that Genesis had gone down. Once they were out of sight of everyone else they rushed toward the end door and busted through it. The leader glanced over curiously at such noise. "What's going on, boys?"

Angeal ran forth and let his sword cut into the throat of the man who was completely defenseless. He hadn't expected to actually cut through his neck, but he had, and the head went right off. Blood squirted from the stump left of the neck all over Genesis who was underneath the dead body. Angeal had yanked the corpse off of him and grabbed his friend's shoulders. "Genesis, are you okay?"

"No," Genesis mumbled. He wasn't even sure what he felt right now.

Sephiroth picked up Genesis's clothes and set them beside the boy. "We're ending this tonight. Once you're ready we're taking them all out."

Genesis glared at Sephiroth before settling his eyes back on the floor. "I see."

"Did you get anything from him?"

"Later…" Genesis replied.

Angeal stood up and nodded. "Take your time."

Sephiroth pulled off the face and head garments and let his hair loose. His bangs did their usual jut into the air while the rest of his hair was wavy from the braid it had been in. "Hopefully everything goes according to plan."

Genesis put his clothes on silently and fixed his outfit once it was on. He threw the face mask on top of the dead body and quietly picked up his weapon. "Let's go."

Angeal looked at the other two before he nodded. This was going to be an interesting battle…

The crowd of Wutai warriors had been jolly and fine. They drank to their families, to the war, to their very lives. It was a glorious sight, a bonding between every man in the group. But a whisper rustled through them. Happy faces turned to the words of worry, and then lost their jovialness. All eyes set on the figures standing on the stairs. A redhead, a black-haired man, and the legendary silver-haired SOLDIER were before them. The long hair wasn't as neat as always pictured, but even with its cascading waves it still had its smoothness about it.

The place quieted down as the burning image of these three entered into their minds.

And then…the silence was broken by their screams.

The blood of their comrades splattered all over them as each twisted and turned to grab weapons, to escape, to do anything but die. The crowd moved in a wild mass, scattering like frightened mice for a place to hide. But the bodies were piling before the doors and windows and they'd reel back in terror. And once they tried to go back to fight they'd be cut down with no mercy.

The bloodbath was enormous. There was hardly a spot on the floor that wasn't covered with a body or with blood. The screams soon turned into a lulled silence as the remaining lot that lived had stopped in their tracks and begged for mercy. Amongst them was the man with the survivor story.

Sephiroth stepped forward and smiled down at him. "You were right…meeting me again will be your demise. You shouldn't have lived in the first place. But your story had some inaccuracies. I am human…." He brought his sword up into position. "Not a monster that you painted me as. And I'll let you die knowing that." He sliced him through and this time made sure he was dead before looking at the few others remaining. "Say goodbye."

The boys all closed their eyes and were run through with Angeal and Genesis's blades. By now the great hall was silent except for the heavy breathing coming from Genesis. After it was all done the redhead finally let loose. He grabbed onto Angeal and buried his face into his friend.

"It's over…" Angeal assured him as his eyes spotted the faces of the dead. "We'll leave now."

Genesis pulled from Angeal and let his eyes settle on Sephiroth before the hatred came flying back. "You sent me in there and fed me to a fucking lion!"

"Genesis, calm down."

"Calm down? After what he did to me? I didn't even stand a chance! And you think I should just forget it and move on. You're a real bastard, I hope you know that. Not everyone is as heartless or emotionally deprived as you are."

Angeal sighed as the fight started. Thank God everyone else was dead, he would feel ashamed if anyone else had to see this.

"Genesis, please don't act like this. I know what you went through is terrible. I'm not going to deny you to feel pissed off about it all. But using your anger out on me isn't going to solve the situation."

"You have no idea what I'm feeling right now. How would you like it if you got raped? I'm sure you'd feel _great_ afterwards."

Sephiroth knew this wasn't going to get any better. "The mission is over. I'm contacting Lazard and we're getting back to Midgar."

Angeal frowned at that decision, "But that's not what we had planned."

"I know, but Genesis is emotionally compromised. We can't go on."

"I know Genesis isn't feeling great, but if we pull out because of this there's going to be a lot of explaining to do and it's going to get real messy. Sephiroth, they'll find out. Why is Genesis upset? Rape? Why was he raped? Because of your orders? Why did you order that onto him? Do you understand what I'm saying? You're going to send yourself into a shithole of problems."

Sephiroth snapped at him, "I know that! But it'll happen anyway whether we end the mission now or if we go on and finish in a few months. It's not like Genesis is going to keep quiet about what happened! You even said he'd be psychologically damaged, he won't be able to pretend for the rest of his life."

Genesis stepped in and glared at the two of them. "Just stop. We'll continue with the mission."

"Genesis," Sephiroth responded.

"No. I'm not going to send you into more problems with Lazard. You and I have fight too much. They're going to end up doing something to one of the two of us if it continues, and I have a feeling it's going to be me that they'll cut. I don't want you bogged down with all that crap. Whatever happened never…gets out. Okay?"

"You can't be serious," Angeal butted in. "Genesis, you can't hide what happened."

"I won't. I'll talk to you two and I'll get over it. You're my friends, right? Then this will stay between us and I'll eventually get over the shock. Call Lazard, tell him about what we've done."

"We got some information," Sephiroth replied finally. "What did you get?"

"I…didn't get much. He mentioned that all the officials usually meet at some…Fort. Tamblin, I think. At least, he said it was temporary. They didn't want to run the risk of meeting inside Wutai."

Sephiroth perked at the information. That was something they needed. If Tamblin was that important… "What of their ruler?"

"Godo Kisaragi. He didn't mention much about him, he just asked if I knew who he was and I said yes."

"Nothing about location or anything?"

"No."

"Anything else?"

"He…said something about problems with contacting the bases. Supposedly Shinra's been cutting their lines so they have to travel more often then they want to. But he did mention that if a base somewhere close to Rocket Town was destroyed it'd be painful for Wutai."

"Hmm…"

"That was…the most he really told me." Genesis turned his eyes away from his friends and pretended to look interested in something on the wall, though there was nothing there but blood splatter.

Sephiroth dug through the folds of his Wutai garb and finally pulled out his cell phone. He flipped it open and went through the contacts but stopped before calling Lazard. His eyes went back to Genesis and noticed his uneasiness. He had caused all of that. Man…he felt so stupid for focusing on the mission so much that he never bothered to think about anything else. He had done it again. Screwed up royally. Why was he in 1st class again? "Genesis, are you sure…you're going to be all right?"

Genesis turned his attention to Sephiroth and could tell that his friend was seriously considering cancelling the mission. In some ways…Genesis wished he would so that he could get it all out of his system. But…he didn't want to dwell on it. It was painful…but was it worth the problems that would ensue if they got back to Headquarters?

_I should be angry at him for causing this to happen to me…but I can't be. I keep dwelling on the conversation we had about how he doesn't know what he's doing. He's completely helpless about this whole friend thing. Can I…really hold this against him? Perhaps it was a bad decision for the mission, but I can't exactly blame him for it all. He's just as human as I am…_

Genesis had taken awhile to nod his head and he gave a slight smile to him. "Yeah. I'll be fine. Tell Lazard what we know so we can head out. We can't stay in this place for long."

Sephiroth stared back into those blue eyes before he finally looked to his phone. He clicked the call button and put it to his ear. The mission was on.

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Please review! I love hearing from you guys. And another chapter will be arriving at some point. I've got a convention to go to sometime this month, but that shouldn't interfere too much.

Until then!


	10. Chapter 10

Another chapter update. Hope you guys enjoy this overly dramatic chapter!

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_It's beautiful out tonight. The stars are the only spectacle as the moon has vanished from sight, but it's still majestic and bright. We've been heading to Rocket Town for a few weeks now. In fact, I can't remember how long it's been. I just remember how much I enjoy lying out under the stars with these two. It feels like we've grown closer. The gaps and drifts we had between us are starting to erase away…_

_Maybe it's just because they know that internally I'm completely destroyed from that horrific experience._

Genesis turned his eyes over to Sephiroth who was sleeping calmly and then over to Angeal who snored softly.

_And to think that Sephiroth complained about having sleeping problems. Look at me. I don't want to sleep because I'm afraid of what I might dream…but staying away is just as bad. It's all I think about._

He turned away from them and thought about the force that was used on him. It was harsh and unloving, not what he was used to feeling. But really, he hadn't felt actual _love. _It was…always something different than that. Something less.

It felt as if everyone tolerated him but did not love him. And really, he only wanted those types of feelings from one person…but he had already refused him before.

"Sephiroth," Genesis sighed through his breath.

The silver-haired man shot up into a sitting position and looked over at Genesis. "Did you say my name? Is there something wrong?"

Genesis jolted at how quickly Sephiroth had awoken and realized that the man was purposefully sleeping lightly to be on guard. Now look what he'd done. What should he say? Tell him he was just thinking about love? What a dumb excuse. "Sorry. I can't sleep."

The words took awhile to register but Sephiroth realized the problem. "Oh." He slid to get into a better position before saying anything else. "Is there…any way I can help?"

_I wish you could help my broken heart, but that's something you can't change._ "Unless you can turn back time I don't think there's much you can do."

"I…shouldn't have pushed you to go. It was my fault."

"Yeah, I know."

Sephiroth shut up after Genesis said that. He thought he'd get defended, not agreed with. Was Genesis mad? He couldn't tell at the moment. Then again, he could never tell what was wrong with him. He was always wrong…

"Did you…push me to it…because you wanted me off your back?"

"No—"

"Sephiroth…" Genesis sat up now and turned to face him. "It's okay if you tell the truth."

Silence fell. Could he say it? "It…was a little bit of that. But not as much as you'd think. I…suppose I was pushing you to realize that not everything is easy to do. I…I wanted you to know the difficulties of our missions, how each field is important to excel in. But…it was a screw up on my part." Should he even reveal that he knew it'd happen? "Genesis, I have something to tell you." The redhead stared at him directly and he could feel himself start to sweat. "I knew you…were going to get it."

Genesis's heart dropped. _He…knew I had no chance?_ "Why did you make me go, then?"

"We needed the information."

"We could have tied him up and made him squeal! Not have him take advantage of me!"

"I know, but interrogating doesn't always work. He trusted you because he had the power over you. That's not what happens when the situation is reversed. It was a selfish and bad idea to go with, but I kept rationalizing that the mission was the important part. I…I just thought you'd bounce back. I don't know why."

Genesis felt worse than before. "I don't know what to say to you. That you're stupid? That's pretty obvious. I know it's a first time for you on the whole…friend thing, but I feel like you're going out of your way to shove me back. You've hurt me in more ways than I thought any one person could do to me. But why? Why me? Why do you target me with such contempt?" He got back down on the ground and faced away from him. "I don't even know what I did to you to deserve this."

Sephiroth felt the impulse to reach out and comfort him, but he didn't know how to do that. He'd never comforted anyone in his life. "I…I don't know what I'm doing."

"I know. Maybe it's best you just stop trying."

Stop trying? Should Sephiroth really give up? Was he…destined to fail in helping Genesis? "I can't do that."

"All you ever do is cause me pain. Why can't you stop?"

"Because…I was created to hurt people."

Genesis turned his head slowly to look at Sephiroth. That was right. Sephiroth was a killer. He thought like one all the time. Was that why? Was it his impulses to kill that had caused a drift between them in the first place? "That's…true." His blue eyes caught Sephiroth's once the figure had looked at him. He could read the expression on Sephiroth's face. He seemed confused, perhaps somewhat frightened at the information. "You'll have to change that."

"How? If you change that…won't I be a terrible fighter? I can't sacrifice my job like that…"

"Sephiroth…." Genesis sat up and moved closer, "Is your job more important than me?" He wondered why he asked. "At least…attempting to change? You can have close ties and still be a wonderful fighter. Angeal and I don't have problems…you could be like us."

"But you're not as strong as me. We're completely different people."

"We won't be. I promise."

"I…I don't know."

Genesis sighed and pulled back. "You want to know what's the difference between us? You lose all confidence in everything. You can't take risks. You only know one way works and you keep it that way because you're afraid to wander from that path. It's why we're so separated. You like the straight path…I go off of it to see what else is out there."

"People die when they wander."

"I won't."

"You're so confident in yourself…"

"Hardly. But I know someone who is at least there to protect me."

Sephiroth looked over at Angeal and returned his eyes to Genesis. "Then why do you need me?"

"You need me, Sephiroth. Not everything can be done solo."

Sephiroth needed him? He never thought of it that way. Yes, he wouldn't mind a friend, but…need? It was such a heavy word. "Everything has worked so far as a solo mission."

Genesis smirked at his words and leaned closer. "It takes two to tango." He scooted closer subtly, grabbing Sephiroth's arm to pull him forward. "One person can give, but you still need a recipient for it to count." His other arm slid up Sephiroth's and smoothly caressed his shoulder, gliding onto the 1st class operative's neck, and giving him a gentle tug closer. "For every action there's a reaction." His leg worked over Sephiroth's lap, wrapping neatly to his hips. Their faces were extremely close, and Genesis could see the dazed look in his victim's eyes. "One person can _fall_ in love…but you need two people to _be_ in love."

They stayed in their tight position for a long time, Sephiroth utterly surprised at the way he had seduced him like that while Genesis yearned to keep the position forever. Both were taking in the other's breathing, the taut muscles, how they both seemed in limbo of wanting each other and repelling each other. At long last Sephiroth had to break the silence. "It's….really quiet."

Genesis stared for the longest time at him. That was all he could say at this moment? Then his eyes moved over slowly to where Angeal was at and found him watching like it were a movie. He had his elbow propped up so he could use his hand to lean against his head and his expression looked somewhat perplexed. "Angeal…"

"What?"

"Have you been watching this whole time?"

Angeal scratched his cheek. "Hmm…yeah."

"Okay…." Genesis murmured and moved off of Sephiroth reluctantly.

"Did you two need me to go find another rock to lie near? In case you two needed a quickie?"

Sephiroth felt so embarrassed. Genesis had dominated him so easily. God…how shameful to have someone else see that.

"We were just talking," Genesis replied as he brushed some dirt from himself.

"Just talking?" Angeal repeated. "Right. Why were you on him, then?"

"Shut up. It's not what you were thinking."

"So it wasn't you trying to get in his pants?"

"No. That's the last thing on my mind, Angeal. It was something else. Go to bed."

"You sure?"

"Angeal!"

"Okay okay. Good night."

"Night."

Sephiroth sat there staring at the two as they had easily plopped down for bed. He was too nervous to do that now. He wished he could brush that entire ordeal off as easily as they had, but his emotions were too scattered to go to bed now. Sephiroth rose and brushed himself off getting the attention from the both of them.

"Where are you going?" Genesis asked.

"That way."

"Why?"

"If you really have to know, I'm going to go piss. I'll be back." Not that he actually had to go, but it was the first excuse to come up in his mind. No one would deny you a bathroom break.

Angeal snorted, "Probably has to go readjust."

"Angeal!" Genesis yelped before tightening his mouth as he saw Sephiroth's expression. It was priceless.

Sephiroth looked horrified at Angeal's words before he quickly took it in and had to get back at his comrade. "Okay. I'm going to go beat off until I'm raw. I'll be thinking of you, Angeal."

Angeal watched Sephiroth walk off and he let out a good laugh before shaking his head. Then a slight shudder went down his spine. "Ugh. Now I'll have nightmares."

"You deserve it," Genesis muttered before curling up in his spot again.

His friend glanced over toward the redhead and then checked where Sephiroth was heading to before putting his head down. He really hoped this trip would fix their friendship problems…

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The next day Angeal prodded Genesis awake and found he was back to his gloomy state. A nightmare probably had been bothering him… "Hey, Genesis. Why don't you help me look for some plants to pick up? I've got a small guide we can use."

"Why do we need plants?" Genesis grumbled as he put his chin on his knees, embracing his legs at the chill of the morning.

"Just some spice for the food we make. We're running out. Or should I say we have run out? Besides, once you move around you'll be warm again."

Genesis got up and stretched before glancing around the area. Sephiroth was nowhere in sight. Figures he'd vanish like that. He wondered if Angeal gave him a heads up on disappearing before he woke him? But Angeal spotted him looking and he nudged Genesis. "Hey, he fell asleep out there. Don't worry, we're not wandering far from camp. Come on, let's get stuff ready before he comes back."

"Okay…"

Together they traversed the plains and fell upon some grasses and flowers that they could compare. Of course, it wouldn't be a normal day if Genesis and Angeal weren't picking on each other.

"So, what was up with last night? You and Sephiroth seemed to be getting it on until he noticed I was awake."

Genesis roamed the flowers with disinterest. Yeah, what was up with that? "I…don't know. After previous events…with that freak…I guess I just. I…" He sighed and shook his head. Think first, then speak. "All I've been trying to do before was to get in Sephiroth's pants. He would always push me away, right? But after the events that happened, I guess I've started to…I don't know, prioritize myself. I need modesty. I used to have it, but I lost it and keep losing it. I want it back."

"You make it sound like your virginity in that context. You can't have that back."

Genesis glared and saw his friend was merely joking. He saw the nod for him to go on and he continued. "I want to experience love like never before. Not just…sex. I mean actual…relationship bonding type of love."

"With…Sephiroth."

"Of course him. I think he's caught up more in seeing me as a sex fiend then anything else. Why else push me to do things…like he had? And besides, being in love doesn't equal sex. We could enjoy being together without the physical mess of things."

"I thought you liked the physical mess?" Angeal questioned him as he flipped pages through his book.

"I do, but I think I act that way because of someone's presence more than anything else. When I'm around him I want to be physical, but I can restrain myself. I…wish that he'd be the same to me." Genesis pulled up a flower numbly and crushed it between his fingers. "I'm scared of feeling like I'm being used. The way that…man had used me. The way Lazard and Rufus used me as well…"

"You want an actual connection."

"Yes. I think him and I click but he's afraid of the attachment. He gets caught up in judging everything. My actions, me…himself, what people around us think. He probably feels like a criminal when he acts emotional."

"Makes sense why he had to bail out last night."

"Yeah…" Genesis toyed with another flower he had picked up. "I wish…I could somehow show him I'm not a slut and that he can trust me."

"Wish I could help you, but I can't think of any ideas." Angeal noticed one of the plants Genesis was toying with and he flipped around a bit before nodding. "Hey, you found something edible."

Genesis plucked it and put some in his mouth. "Hmm. Doesn't taste too bad."

Angeal kept reading when he frowned. "Uh oh."

"Uh oh?" Genesis frowned. "Should I spit it out?"

"Well…yeah."

Genesis turned and hacked a big one. Angeal snorted before pointing at the description. "Says here it's an aphrodisiac."

Genesis looked at it before pulling the book out of Angeal's hands. "Wait. That makes people all…frisky, right?"

"Yeah?"

The redhead was silent for awhile until he began to pull more of it.

Angeal's eyes widened. "Genesis…what happened to your modesty speech?"

"It's still standing. I just thought of something that can test Sephiroth! He'll see he can trust me!"

"How does that work…?"

Genesis turned to his friend. "Say you went out getting some herbs and give it to Sephiroth to try. He'll eat it and get horny. Say you didn't read the description and you're really sorry. Then when he hits his peak he'll want to satisfy himself. He knows I'm easy. But I'll decline and tell him he'll regret it. You know? He'll thank me later for being responsible."

Angeal felt like it was a _really_ bad idea. Could Genesis hold himself back if Sephiroth started to hit on him? "If he fucks you and then hates your guts forever it won't be my problem."

"But you'll do it?"

"I…guess. Let me put on my 'I'm stupid' hat and pretend I can't read."

Genesis smiled and hugged him, "Trust me, this'll work."

"And if it doesn't we'll just have an emotionally driven Sephiroth on our tails for the rest of this trip."

"I'm willing to risk it."

Angeal nodded, "Yeah. I know."

They gathered up other plants as well and got back to camp. Together they prepared what they could for a meal and Genesis mixed in the aphrodisiac to Sephiroth's bowl of food. It didn't take long for Sephiroth to finally come back to the camp.

"Good morning," Genesis replied to him. "Did you get enough sleep?"

Sephiroth moved his shoulders a bit, "I fell asleep in a really weird position and now my arm hurts."

"I can give you a massage after you eat if you want?" Genesis offered.

"Maybe. We should head out as quickly as we can."

Angeal started to munch on his food and noticed Sephiroth begin to eat the concoction. "I gathered up some spices that I found. Hope you like it."

Sephiroth looked at the little baggies of the plants and glanced to Angeal, "I hope you checked?"

"Of course. They all said edible."

"Good."

The three ate in silence for awhile until a songbird started to bring out its call. Genesis sighed at its music. "Isn't it weird how beautiful a mating call can sound?"

Angeal looked up from his food and then snorted, "I never thought of it that way."

Sephiroth glanced in the direction of the bird and brought his focus back to his food. He was so hungry all the time. He couldn't wait to get back to get some real food… "I had a pet bird once."

Genesis perked and smiled at his openness. "They let you have one?"

"No. I captured it and kept it in my room. I used to spend a lot of my time planning on how I'd get one, and I devised a trap that the bird would go in, like it was a birdhouse, to feed on a plate. Once it got in, though, it would trip a wire and the door would close. I read it in books, I thought it'd be neat to try. So I did."

"That's cool. What did you name it?"

Sephiroth shook his head, "I just called it 'my songbird'. I didn't have it for long."

"What happened?"

"Well…I kept it near the window so it could always see the world outside. I think it hated me. Never sang once. I felt jealous that it was so silent. But one morning I caught a glimpse of other birds like itself perched on my window ledge and I felt bad for caging it. So I let it go."

"That's a sad but sweet story."

Sephiroth ate some more and shrugged, "Perhaps. I ended up trying to capture cats and dogs, too."

Angeal started to smirk as he imagined a very smaller version of Sephiroth trying to capture animals. "How'd that go?"

"I tried the dog first. I thought they were always entertaining, at least from the few I saw in Midgar from my window. If you wander around enough in Midgar you're bound to find a stray. I came upon some puppies and took one. I hid it under my shirt until I got back to my room, then I fed it."

"Any names?" Genesis asked again.

"Just… 'puppy.'"

Genesis laughed, "For being so inventive you come up with some pretty pathetic names."

"I suppose I didn't want to get too attached. Hojo always told me not to give names to things. Anyway, things had been going pretty well. I had newspapers laid out on the floor and that's where it'd go because it was hard to time those things. He did whine a lot when I left and he learned how to bark pretty quickly. But those weren't the problems. I suppose I grabbed some type of mastiff breed, because he wouldn't stop growing. I was having problems getting the food for him and cleaning up his messes, so I tried taking him outside in hopes of fixing that problem. I had him halfway under my shirt thinking I could hide this dog that had grown to half my size…" Sephiroth shook his head. "It was ridiculous."

"I'm guessing you got caught."

"Oh, it was more than 'got caught.' I had walked into the elevator containing Scarlet, Hojo, Heidegger…basically anyone of importance."

"That…sucks. What happened?"

"Scarlet badgered me for taking the dog, Hojo said he'd use it for experiments, but it was the President who suggested handing it off to another kid. I was so terrified that I just cried because I thought I was in trouble."

"Aww," Genesis murmured. "Did you get yelled at?"

"A little. I was told I shouldn't bring pets into the building. But after that I went and got a kitten. They found it within the year when Scarlet came into my room to tell me something. That was when they sat me down and told me I wouldn't be able to go outside if I kept bringing in pets."

"Caging you because you cage animals. Nice punishment," Angeal remarked.

"Yeah." Sephiroth finished his food. "There. A story from me for the year. Hope you all enjoyed it."

Genesis nodded, "I did. Gives me a little more insight on how you work. I think it's pretty normal to want a pet to take care of. But living in farm country, everything is everyone's pet you could say."

Sephiroth smiled at the thought of that freedom when he started to feel something in him. He tried to focus on it but he couldn't tell what it was. "I bet that was nice."

"Yeah. Angeal actually had a dog that kept whoring around and popping babies everywhere. It was great. Sucked that it fell off that cliff…"

Angeal sighed, "I miss that dog. Greatest bitch ever."

Genesis laughed, "Remember when you said that in front of your mom? She made you wash your mouth out with soap."

"Yeah, that was the first and last time I'd ever speak like that in front of her."

Sephiroth listened with some interest until the wave of emotions really hit him, "Oh God…I feel weird."

"Weird?" Angeal asked.

"Yeah…like…hot or something…" Sephiroth pulled on his collar a bit and then felt where the sensation really hit. The feeling between his legs made him really uncomfortable about the subject. Why had he brought it up so stupidly? "Um…"

"You okay?" Genesis questioned as he leaned forward to stare at him.

Sephiroth locked onto Genesis and felt the rise come. What was wrong with him? He wasn't a preteen anymore, it should be… His eyes landed on the bags of plants. "Angeal, you said you picked spices this morning?"

"Yeah. They're all edible, I looked."

"Did you read…anything else about them?"

Angeal shook his head, "Actually…no."

Sephiroth held his hand out, "Give me it." The book came out from Angeal's pocket and he tossed it at Sephiroth. Quickly he brushed through the pages until he found some matching pictures and read through some descriptions until he found which one was the problem. "Angeal…" He picked up the bag. "This is an aphrodisiac."

Genesis frowned, "The stuff that makes you horny?"

"Yes," Sephiroth replied. "That."

Genesis turned his eyes to Angeal, "Did you mix it in all of ours?"

Angeal shook his head. "No, I put some food in the bowl and grabbed. I must have put that one in Sephiroth's. I mean, I must have given you something different because I'm not acting weird and neither is Genesis."

Sephiroth sighed and threw the baggie on the ground, "This isn't good."

Genesis nodded, "Yeah…do you need to go…rub one out?"

Sephiroth glared. "No. I'll let it wear off. Let's just…pack up and get moving."

"I…guess you won't want that massage now, huh?"

Sephiroth felt the urge to say that he did want it but he suppressed the words. "Absolutely not."

"Well, if it still hurts I can give you one when you're feeling less weird."

Sephiroth dejectedly got up and busied himself with gathering what they had. As they headed out the feeling was getting stronger. He gave a sigh that sounded almost like a moan to his two companions. They had exchanged looks and felt as if the plant must have really worked.

"Walk it off," Angeal joked to him and heard Sephiroth grumble. "Doesn't it remind you of being young again?"

Genesis shuddered, "Sex ed sucked. Hey Sephiroth, I know you probably don't want to talk about it, but how did they teach you about these things?"

Sephiroth wondered if talking would help get his mind off of the throbbing feeling. He was willing to try anything. "Probably the worst way they could do it. They sent Scarlet to teach me."

Angeal busted out laughing, "No wonder you don't like her. She had to teach you the fun stuff."

Sephiroth growled, "It was terrible! Someone came to my room and told me that I needed to go talk to Scarlet about something important. I walked with them to her office and I finally asked what it was about. The guy just laughed and said 'the birds and the bees' and left. I thought we were going to talk about birds and bees. I go in there and the first thing Scarlet says is 'Sephiroth, I'm going to teach you about sex.'"

Genesis snorted a few times and tried to keep a straight face. He could tell Sephiroth was struggling to talk, but the story was also as funny as his situation. "Oh Goddess. What did you do?"

"I just said 'what does this have to do with birds and bees?' and she laughed at me. After explaining the metaphor she then gave me the most horrifying detailed explanation of sex."

"Like what?"

"The first thing she said was 'you have a penis, you understand that, right?' and before I could say anything she said, 'do you know what a vagina looks like? It's what women have.'"

Angeal and Genesis both couldn't hold in their laughter. After awhile of trying to regain themselves Genesis asked, "What did you say to that?"

"I said 'you're not going to show me one, are you?' and she pulled out _real_ pictures and said 'actually, it's what I'm paid to do.'"

"I wonder if it was hers…" Genesis pondered.

Sephiroth felt the sensation increase at the thought but he shook his head, "I hope not. She told me more than I ever wanted to know at that age."

"Like…?"

"Things that please women, positions I could do, she showed me all kinds of ways to hit on someone. It was really awkward. After the entire ordeal I wondered where my childhood had gone."

"Scarlet mindfucked it," Angeal noted.

"You can say that again…I couldn't face her without feeling embarrassed."

"Even now?"

"It's not as bad now, but the reminder is always there."

Genesis had to ask more. "So…did you guys also discuss masturbation?"

Sephiroth wished the subject could change, but he felt so compelled to tell more. "Yeah. That was one of the worst parts. She 'demonstrated.'"

"On what?"

"A banana. It was the first thing she saw. Ruined my appetite for them."

"Was she really sexual about it?"

"Yes. It's Scarlet, of course it was," Sephiroth replied and tried not to think of the feisty blonde rubbing her fingers against him. Eugh. Bad thoughts. "She ate it right after she did it, too."

"She was showing you oral in a painful way," Angeal replied.

"Can we change the subject? It's not helping my situation," Sephiroth complained.

For a minute there Genesis wanted to say no, but he figured that Sephiroth had enough problems going for him. Besides, he was supposed to help Sephiroth trust him to make things blossom, not make it worse. "Okay. What else should we talk about?"

Angeal nodded his head in the direction they were heading, "How's about civilization?"

Their eyes fell upon a city and all of them yearned to be in it. They had been out camping for far too long and wanted to get clean and lay in actual beds. _I could really go for sleeping in a soft, lush bed right now with down comforters and foam pillows._

Sephiroth kept staring at it and felt his loin tense, but his only thought was on one thing. Food. He wanted to eat again so badly. Maybe pasta with alfredo, herbed breadsticks, side dishes of pea salad and…

Oh man, he was making himself rise with the thought of it. "If we keep up our pace we can reach there in an hour. Hopefully it's a friendly place or else we're going to get stuck on the streets again."

Angeal thought about what he wanted from civilization. Perhaps better human interaction and the beautiful buzz of human life blossoming. He enjoyed strolling around and watching people interact more than interacting himself, but he wasn't a complete shut out like Sephiroth. "I'm hoping so, too. But we've been traveling a long time, shouldn't this be Rocket Town?"

Genesis didn't want to get his hopes up, but hearing that name made him whine slightly, "I hope to the Goddess it is. We've been out here for too long."

Sephiroth shrugged at their inquiries. It wasn't like he was a GPS. Wait. He pulled out his phone and checked through his applications before finding what he needed. "Yes, it's Rocket Town."

"Sweet baby Minerva," Genesis whispered and kissed his hand before rising it to the sky, "Praise our beautiful Lady."

Sephiroth had never noticed Genesis's faith issues until recently. He knew that Genesis always talked of a 'Goddess' but it had never occurred to him that he was seriously religious. It was hardly ever heard of to have someone talk of an actual deity of the planet they lived on. Most people like that were just kooks no one would ever want to talk to. Yet Genesis clearly wasn't that kooky, and he still muttered of this woman that he believed in. "Genesis, are you religious?"

Genesis turned his eyes to Sephiroth and saw the nerved and confused expression on his companion's face. Was it bad that he was? "I do believe in the Goddess, yes. I wouldn't say I'm very religious, I don't go to a church or anything, but I have faith in her."

"That's odd…" Sephiroth brushed a piece of his hair away from himself. "I never pictured you as religious."

"Why is that?"

The 1st class SOLDIER wiped at his brow with the back of his hand and put his hand to his chest. His heart was hammering hard, pumping blood to his entire body, rushing into his groin and making him falter in thinking. He wondered if he physically looked changed as well in this state. Did they notice him acting differently? More flustered or occupied? Was something like this seen by others? He hoped not… "Well…I suppose the way you act…seems unholy."

"You mean that I'm a slut."

"I wouldn't put it in those terms—"

"But it's what you want to say."

Sephiroth glanced to make sure he wasn't upsetting Genesis. The redhead looked fine, as if the terminology meant nothing to him. "Yes, I suppose."

"The Goddess doesn't judge you because of such petty actions. She merely lets you pass into the Lifestream. Judgment Day doesn't scare me. I am working for everyone's best interests and I haven't purposefully hurt anyone, so I should be smiled and winked at when I die."

They walked onward and the conversation grew even more serious. Sephiroth was intrigued by the very thought of religion. No one in Shinra's manor had they acted like this, nor would they talk about it. He had only read books and nothing else of the topic. So, having Genesis as a part of that knowledge he had never completely obtained personally made him intrigued. His burning desires were starting to die down more the harder he focused on the subject at hand. "Is it possible to be rejected from the Lifestream?"

Angeal nodded, "I bet it's possible. Maybe ask someone whose had a near death experience or something."

Genesis shook his head, "I…I don't know. I feel differently about it. The Goddess might 'judge' you, but I feel as if she has to accept you into the Lifestream."

"You're accepted and brought back into the Planet, correct?" Sephiroth questioned Genesis's knowledge. "Then what if you're not something that fits well with the planet? What if people with mako running in their blood are somehow…unacceptable?"

Genesis felt perplexed. Unacceptable? No… "I…I don't understand. Mako is from this world, just because we're laced with it doesn't mean we would be rejected."

"I…suppose you're right." Sephiroth kept walking, mind numbly moving back to the feelings he was having. He wished he could get his focus off of it. "Sometimes I just wonder about this world and how it works."

"You mean the Lifestream?"

"Yes. People…talk about it all the time. As if…it's tangible. I wish I could see it."

"That requires dying," Angeal replied.

"I know. When it's my time to die I will make sure to pay close attention to it."

"What if it isn't tangible? What if it's just…pop, you're dead, and the world absorbs you?"

Sephiroth looked at Genesis and he wondered about that as well. "I…don't know. I suppose I'll be disappointed."

"But you're dead. You can't feel things when you're dead," Angeal rationalized.

They kept going feeling as if the buildings were not getting any closer. All their minds dwelled on the gloomy outcome of what will happen when their lives were over. "Oh. I always imagined dying would be an out of body experience. I really long one."

Genesis nodded, "Yeah, that's what I thought, too."

Angeal shrugged, "I always thought when we died the world made us vanish forever, and our souls go through the Lifestream and return as someone else. Same spirit, different body."

"So…technically you're not you, you're someone that has already died?" Sephiroth questioned Angeal's logic.

"Yeah."

"That's odd, but interesting. I also thought that when we died that was it. There was just eternal nothingness afterwards. You're not recycled or put back into the world, but merely a corpse in the ground. Sometimes you are remembered…and other times…you become nothing but dust."

Genesis glanced at Sephiroth's complex expression. _That was…deep. I think he's starting to get the hang of opening up to us. And…I'm so glad. I never knew what he thought about. Death? Why would Sephiroth ever need to think about such things? But he does…maybe all the time, too. Poor guy…_ "That…would be sad. But I suppose it does happen, doesn't it? It's not like I know much about my own relatives that have died, and I won't say anything to my kids when I have some. They'll just…vanish."

Angeal felt the intensity of the moment and how depressing it was getting. Perhaps it'd be best to lighten it up? "Well look at it this way, you won't have to feel encouraged to tell your children because you won't have any."

Genesis glared, "Hey."

"What? Just saying it's hard to have kids when you're shooting into a stallion and not a mare."

Sephiroth and Genesis both made noises of disgust and surprise at his words. Genesis was the first to fire at him, "I like girls as much as I like guys! It's not a one way street for me!"

Sephiroth felt the surge of lust and he cringed, "I'm not a part of this conversation."

"I think you are," Angeal replied as he ignored Genesis. "Genesis likes you a lot more than I have seen him with other people. I think he's set."

Genesis glared. It wasn't helping his situation, especially since he knew Sephiroth was vulnerable right now. The man would clamp up and freak out on him and then he'd never have his shot! "It doesn't mean I'm going to fuck him to death just because I like him. I value other things about Sephiroth more than just pleasuring myself."

"Is that so?" Angeal said.

"Yes. He's fucking coked up on aphrodisiacs and I haven't made a move yet because I'm not going to take advantage of him. I respect his boundaries, and now that his guard is down I don't think it'd be decent to do what I usually do." Why was Angeal making him re-explain this? Man, he was being an ass.

But Sephiroth was listening to it all and felt surprised. Genesis really hadn't flirted with him ever since he had taken the aphrodisiac. It made him feel…proud of Genesis's determination to be close friends without any drama. "I never realized you weren't hitting on me. I can't believe I missed something like that. But if you're telling the truth I…do appreciate it."

Genesis turned his eyes to Sephiroth. _Wait. Was Angeal trying to get Sephiroth to see what I was doing? Aw…I thought he was just being a jerk._ "Yeah, I don't think I'd want people toying with me if I were in your situation, so…I'm just doing what's best."

Sephiroth smiled slightly and felt the hormones again. He was feeling excited because of Genesis's words? How pathetic. "Thank you. Now what would really be best…is if we got to town quickly."

Angeal stretched and yawned, "We could run. Make it a race."

All of them exchanged glances at the thought of running there. Who was the fastest? Genesis was swift, Angeal had stamina, and Sephiroth had his long legs…

"Should we make a bet?" Genesis casually said as he stretched his legs.

"The two stragglers have to share a bed when we get the hotel room," Sephiroth commented. He knew he had this cat in the bag.

"Deal," Angeal agreed.

They all set off running and Genesis had taken the lead somehow, thinking it funny if Sephiroth and Angeal had to sleep together for once. He really didn't care so much about bedding with other people, he had slept with Sephiroth and Angeal before. Angeal just snored loudly and you had to block it out. Sephiroth was jumpy sometimes, but that was at least cute.

Genesis's thoughts all came to a halt when he almost fell into a trench. It was at least 6 feet deep and looked about a mile long. He heard Sephiroth stop behind him to look at what had stopped Genesis. "Trench. They're used sometimes in—"

He couldn't finish. Angeal had shoved them both in and leapt over the gap before running again.

"Ow, ow, ow," Genesis hissed as he tried to untangle himself from Sephiroth's hair and limbs. "That hurt…"

"You're telling me," Sephiroth growled, "Being aroused and falling forward is not something I ever want to experience again."

"At least you fell on me. Would have hurt more if you hit solid ground."

"You're boney, it still hurt."

"_You're_ boney," Genesis remarked and laughed as Sephiroth glared at the thought. "Sorry, couldn't resist. Come on, I'll hoist you up."

Sephiroth got up, "Hoist me?" He walked over to the edge and grabbed onto it, "Genesis. It's only six feet deep." He yanked himself up with ease. "It's like a jungle gym you've outgrown."

Genesis glared, "Well I'm shorter than you, so it looks different. Now help me up." He grabbed the edge as well and felt Sephiroth easily yank him to safety. Their eyes left the trench and went toward Angeal who was booking it to town. "Fuck."

"We can catch up." Sephiroth pulled Genesis to his feet and they both started running, but they had lost majorly. Angeal was relaxing against the backside of a building when they strode up.

"Looks like you two are bunking together."

"You cheated," Genesis growled. "Pushing us to our deaths like that…"

"Oh please, it wasn't to your death. And if it was I'd be doing us all a favor."

Sephiroth snorted and dusted himself off, "How do I look?"

Genesis glanced from Angeal to Sephiroth and gave him a quick scan over. "Well…ruffled but decent."

"Ruffled?"

Genesis straightened Sephiroth's clothes and brushed some dirt from the man's cheek. "There. Better."

"Okay, let's go."

Angeal rolled his eyes, "Have to look pretty for the cameras?"

Sephiroth nodded. "It's not my doing. Lazard warned me that I can't look too disgusting before people or else their appeal for me will go down. I don't know, I think he's just nuts."

Genesis nodded slightly, "Yeah. Hey, do you think anyone will shoot at us because we're still wearing Wutai garb?"

Sephiroth hadn't thought of that. "No because I'm here with you."

"And that automatically means they'll see you?" Angeal questioned his logic.

"They'll see my hair. Everyone does." Sephiroth moved forward and the group followed along. It was quite a shock to a few townsfolk until they recognized the face of their 1st class SOLDIER. There was a Shinra boy on duty, a lonely infantryman, and once the ruckus started up he had to look to see who it was. When he noticed the garb his heart dropped to his stomach thinking the folks were tired of Shinra, but upon noticing Sephiroth's figure he felt relieved and excited. He approached the three and saluted them with utmost respect.

"Sir! It's good to see you, sir!"

Sephiroth looked at the grunt and felt glad to hear the authoritative 'sir' put to the addressing of him. Made him feel special. The excitement raged his hormones harder, but he merely kept himself in check. "We need a hotel."

"Sir! There's one down this street reserved for Shinra's men, sir! I can show you if needed, sir!"

"That'd be nice," Genesis replied for Sephiroth and the man led them to the hotel. It looked rather decent on the outside. But it was inside that intrigued Genesis the most. A big woman was behind the counter and she hardly looked at them before making a rough comment.

"We don't serve Wutai garbage."

The infantryman felt shocked and he moved to fix her straight but Sephiroth pulled him back. "I've got this." He moved forward and waited for the woman to lift her eyes up from what she was reading to get a full look of him. "It's good to know you're not serving the enemy, it wouldn't be very beneficial for your business."

Her mouth dropped open slightly and she brushed down her front and toyed with her hair, "Well butter my biscuits, I wasn't expecting some legendary Hero to walk in here. I would have done my nails better…Ahem. I mean, Mister Sephiroth, how may I be of service to you?"

Genesis liked her already. She was a big woman, but it was mostly well endowed curves. Her skin was dark and smooth, and her hair looked fine and well done. He'd tap that.

Sephiroth was feeling the rise in his pants again. Hadn't it flushed from his system yet? "I need one room, two beds. Further away from everyone else's if that's possible."

She turned to the keys and searched a bit before grabbing a set and handing them to him. "There you go, honey. If you need anything you can contact me here."

Sephiroth smiled as their fingers brushed on taking the keys. The touch made him more agitated. "Put it on Shinra's bill, will you? And put a note that it's because of me."

She smiled, "Whatever you want, sugar."

Sephiroth turned to the others and he handed the extra key to Angeal. "Try not to tell too many people we're here. We're on a dangerous mission, it's important we keep a low profile. Also, don't let anyone disturb us." His words were to the infantryman who saluted at the order. "Good."

They went up the five flights and arrived at their room which was very clean and beautiful looking. Sephiroth glanced at the others and sighed once the door was shut. "Okay, I'm going to take a cold shower. I can't stand this any longer."

"Still going?" Angeal remarked comically.

"Shut up. It's all your fault that I'm having this problem," Sephiroth argued as he struggled with the odd footwear and layers of clothing.

"At least you can go masturbate in the shower if you really want to," Genesis suggested. He got a dirty look. "Sorry."

"You two should go be useful. Like Genesis, go get more shampoo. They won't have enough. And Angeal, see what we can order for food."

Angeal frowned, "We just ate."

"Well I'm hungry still, so I need to eat again."

The 2nd class SOLDIER snorted and shook his head. "Okay, princess, whatever you want."

Genesis moved from the room wondering how dumb it'd sound to ask for more shampoo. Eh, whatever, Sephiroth had a lot of hair, they'd understand. When he returned and gave it to Sephiroth the man had disappeared into the bathroom, though he didn't lock the door. Angeal and Genesis didn't question Sephiroth's behavior knowing that it was all because of the aphrodisiac that he was acting so weird.

_At least he trusts me now. Perhaps we can move forward with this friendship finally? I feel as if we were stuck at the first step for the longest time…_ Genesis relaxed in his seat and closed his eyes for a bit.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

Genesis didn't remember the food being dropped off or hearing the shower stop, but he was awake when Sephiroth slapped under his chin and whacked his arm. "Eat with me." The words took awhile to register since Genesis had just come out of a calm stupor of sweet slumber. He pushed himself upright and stared at the dishes before them, numbly grabbing something to munch on until his appetite started to work.

"Where's Angeal?" Genesis murmured in his fruit he was eating.

"Out. He said he'd be back sometime later."

"Oh." At first Genesis didn't notice anything wrong with this picture until he felt uncomfortable. He realized it was because Sephiroth was staring at him the entire time they were eating. Slowly he stopped grabbing for more and he waited for Sephiroth to explain himself, though he never did. It was a terrible staring contest, one where Genesis wasn't sure if he should look away or not. Finally he decided to speak up, but the oddest thing happened.

Sephiroth had grabbed him and kissed him.

Never in a million years would Genesis have expected to feel Sephiroth's soft lips against his without some type of resistance. Yet, here he was experiencing the sensation. His entire body felt like it was on fire and it took great will power not to push the food away and take him right there. Now that he was fully awake he remembered the aphrodisiac. _How the hell is that still working? It doesn't make sense at all…Sephiroth should have recovered by now, what is making him act like this?_ Genesis pulled away from the kiss and got his breath back before shaking his head slowly. _I can't believe I have to say no._ "Sephiroth…this isn't right. You're horny against your own will." _That just sounded stupid._ "If we act out on each other you'll blame me for not having better control, and you'll hate yourself for what might happen between us."

Sephiroth watched Genesis's gorgeous full lips move and it took all of his might to listen to his words. He was so right, but the feelings he had right now were speaking something else. "I won't blame you for it."

"Yeah you will," Genesis argued. "I always get blamed for these things."

Sephiroth keenly pulled him close and started to kiss up Genesis's neck, tasting the salt from his skin. "This is my own doing," Sephiroth whispered and pressed his lips against Genesis's. "The feeling won't go away. I need to be with you to subdue it."

Genesis felt like he was going to orgasm and they weren't even having sex. _Am I seriously that desperate for his attention? God, I can't believe myself. I want to fuck with him so badly._ "Sephiroth," Genesis moaned at first and then cleared his throat and pulled away, "Sephiroth. No. Trust me, you'll appreciate me not having sex with you. Just…eat your food and then lay down, okay? I'm going to get ready for bed." Genesis got up before Sephiroth could yank him back and pulled himself into the bathroom. _Hopefully he'll be somewhat normal by the time I shower. If not…at least both of us will be clean._

When he had finished showering he left the bathroom in only a towel. The room was silent and Sephiroth's back was to him as he was lying in bed. _There. That's normal. He's probably sleeping it all off and will thank me tomorrow morning for being so understanding._ Genesis quietly pushed the cart away from the bed and turned the lights off. It wasn't late out, but they needed the extra sleep before they continued onward. They were supposed to destroy the bases around Rocket Town. They never did pinpoint which one they were supposed to destroy, which was nerving. If they didn't destroy all the bases quickly they might find out the others had gone down, and the last thing they needed was a problem with executing their mission.

Upon slipping into bed he didn't notice that Sephiroth was still awake and was watching him. His eyes fell over and he almost jumped as the green eyes were set on him. "Jeez, I thought you were asleep."

Sephiroth reached over and grabbed Genesis's side, pulling him close. "I can't sleep."

Genesis was now up against Sephiroth and could feel their bare skin touching, the sensation giving him such a rush he just wanted to give in. "Oh? I'm sorry."

"I have all of this energy," Sephiroth whispered and gently traced Genesis's throat, going down his chest and resting neatly on the redhead's hip. "I need to use it."

"How…are you going to use it?" Genesis asked nervously.

Sephiroth moved himself on top of Genesis, pressing his pelvis hard against his, green eyes having a slight lull of lust to them. Genesis could feel his heart pounding as Sephiroth's throbbing member could be felt against him. _Oh God. He's got me pinned and I want to give in so badly. If he forces it onto me it can't turn out as my fault, can it? Of course not. If I just act like I'm not into it then it'll be all his fault. Right._ "S-Sephiroth…I told you this was a bad idea."

"We can't have sex," Sephiroth whispered to him, "But that doesn't mean we can't play around."

_I so think we can have sex!_ "No sex?" Genesis tried to sound more curious than whiney. He didn't think he pulled it off.

"Don't look so disappointed. We don't have the right things for it, and we can't let Angeal walk in on us doing such things."

"But foreplay is clearly okay," Genesis muttered trying to see how that was logical.

"We could do nothing, but how exciting would that be?" Sephiroth kissed Genesis's neck and shoulder before returning back for Genesis's sweet lips. He pressed his cock harder against Genesis and got a satisfactory reaction from him. "I can tell you want to play."

Genesis nodded, "Okay, we can play." He didn't care anymore about being good. This was just too much for him to say no to.

Sephiroth started to rock his hips into Genesis while he kissed him roughly. He didn't know what had come over himself either. He believed the aphrodisiac had worn off, but for some reason whenever he thought of Genesis he always felt this exact feeling. Why was he feeling so lusty about him? There wasn't anything special between them, they were supposed to be just friends… Yet being this close and acting this way felt right. It shouldn't, but it did.

Genesis moaned slightly when Sephiroth began his movements, the gentleness of it was causing him to rise. His legs instinctively wrapped onto Sephiroth's hips, tightly holding him close. His hands moved all over Sephiroth, one finding a resting spot on exposed thigh while the other toyed through Sephiroth's long hair as it pooled all over them. At first it felt as if this was enough to satisfy them, kissing and groping each other as if they hadn't seen each other in months. But it turned into more when Sephiroth nipped Genesis softly on the neck, and then slowly began to kiss and bite his way downward. By the time Sephiroth had let his lips graze against Genesis's hips the man was practically about to scream. He wanted Sephiroth to do so much to him right now. He let out another moan when Sephiroth kissed the inner part of his thigh.

"You're so easily excited," Sephiroth whispered into the soft flesh which made Genesis's skin crawl all over.

"I've wanted this from you for a long time. I'm going to enjoy every minute of it," Genesis replied back.

Sephiroth rose and settled beside Genesis, pulling the man's backside tightly against him as they faced toward the window, their backs to the door. "Oh…you've waited for this?" Sephiroth's deep voice whispered heavily into Genesis's ear and brought chills against his spine. He felt Sephiroth's hand glide against his hip and pull on the towel. Genesis felt heated by the removal of his only covering, but the emotions rocketed when he felt Sephiroth walking his fingers gently down. They were so close to touching Genesis's tender flesh, so close to wrapping around his pulsing cock, but at that exact same moment they heard Angeal putting the key into the lock. Both sat up and looked toward the door utterly frozen with fear at the thought of being caught. It wasn't that they cared so much about Angeal's reaction, but merely that they didn't know who else might be hovering around him, let alone the possibility that Angeal would judge them harshly for acting so dangerously. They quickly reacted by pulling the covers over themselves while Sephiroth turned the lamp light back on. Genesis noticed his towel on the top of the bed and he snatched it up, shoving it under the covers as Angeal came in and saw the two staring at him.

At first he didn't know what to say because they looked somewhat guilty about something. He decided not to question it, preferring to keep his mind innocent and naïve. "You're staring at me, did you break something? Do something you shouldn't have?" Like have sex.

"We were about to go to bed," Sephiroth informed him finally. "You looked like you were going to say something."

Angeal shook his head, "Not really. They have extra clothes we can borrow, that's about it. Seems Shinra is nice enough to give them clean clothes here."

Genesis relaxed as he thought about the clothes and less about the boner he had. "That'd be nice, I don't think the clothes we were wearing would be salvageable."

Angeal nodded, "Yeah, no shit." He glanced back at them and shook his head. "Sure you didn't do anything you weren't supposed to? You both have that look about you like you're hiding something."

"No. We were just talking," Genesis assured him.

"About?"

"Ways to beat off without using your hands," Genesis joked, though he wished he could use that as a real cover-up.

Angeal stared at him and shook his head, "If that's why you both look like that I'm afraid to hear the results."

"You really don't want to," Sephiroth commented.

Angeal moved to the bathroom. "Did any of your answers include 'using someone else's hand?' Because you two look like you've been trying your answers out on each other." His eyes went back to them to see their faces. They both looked shocked and flustered. "I'm joking." No, no he wasn't. "Don't make a mess." He entered into the bathroom and closed the door.

Sephiroth turned his eyes to Genesis, "I can't tell if he knows or not."

"Neither can I."

Sephiroth waited for awhile before pulling Genesis into another lusty and messy kiss before breaking from him. "We should sleep, he doesn't need to have his suspicions roused any more than they are."

Genesis nodded and quickly put his towel back on before resting back into bed. _Wow. That was…really exciting actually. For some reason almost getting caught made Sephiroth that much sexier. I like it._ He snuggled deeply into the bed as the light was turned back off and fell into sleep without any problems.

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Sephiroth had gotten up early in the morning feeling absolutely awkward and wrong. He couldn't believe the things they did last night. What was wrong with him? Had the aphrodisiac seriously lasted that long? But how? That shouldn't have been possible, he didn't eat that much of it…

His eyes kept moving toward Genesis as he slept softly in bed beside him. The odd thing was…he kept feeling something weird whenever he looked at him. As if the lust was still there, but it was far less hormonally charged as last night. What was this? Attraction? He had never felt attracted to anyone. Why Genesis? He had pushed him away so many times before, what had made today the exception? Was it only because of last night's interactions? But it didn't make sense, Genesis had acted quite friskily on him before. No, it just…didn't make sense to him.

But…who could he talk to? What would he even say? That he was feeling things for someone and he didn't know what it meant? No, it sounded stupid. Everything was sounding stupid right now. How could he have been so idiotic last night? Well…at least they didn't have sex, but he almost jerked off Genesis. God, he couldn't believe himself…

He wanted to go get ready but realized that he didn't have any clothes lying around. Angeal and said that the place had extras, but what should he do? Call the front desk? It was so early…no one would be working by now. At least, he wouldn't think anyone would be. Maybe it'd be best if he just tried to calm himself?

"Have a bad dream?" Angeal remarked as he rose from slumber.

Sephiroth started at the words but told himself to quit acting so weird. "Yeah, something of that sort. I'd like to head out early, but I don't know when we can get our services done."

"You mean food and clothing? I mentioned to the woman you like early early bird deals, and she said she didn't mind coming in early to help fix food. All you need to do is call."

"You're one step ahead of me, Angeal, I'm surprised you're not the 1st class SOLDIER," Sephiroth replied as he picked up the phone.

"I think you were too busy with other things last night."

That had made it awkward for Sephiroth. He hadn't quite punched in the numbers yet. Should he respond to that? "Well…the aphrodisiac was a lot more powerful than I imagined it to be." He quickly hit the numbers so that he wouldn't have to say anything else, and it seemed Angeal had no interest in badgering him longer. He had asked for breakfast and clothes to be sent up and when he finished he wished he didn't have to wait. He could tell Angeal had a few things to say and he didn't want to hear them.

"You two must have done something last night if you're still acting nervous." Angeal had caught it way too easily. The way that Sephiroth was acting just seemed familiar to him. Maybe he had seen it before in Genesis whenever he tried hiding things from him. Whatever it was, he wondered if Sephiroth would spill.

"I'm not sure what you mean by that," Sephiroth remarked. He grabbed up his hairbrush and started to work through all of his hair. He pretended it was keeping him very busy.

"I think you do, Sephiroth, don't play dumb with me."

Sephiroth looked into Angeal's eyes and he almost fumbled with the hairbrush. "Nothing happened."

"If I don't get it out of you I'm bound to hear Genesis's version of the story. Do you really want that to happen?"

Oh no. Genesis would make it sound much worse. But it wasn't something he wanted to talk about! God, this was frustrating for him. "Okay. Some things passed between us."

"You're going to have to be more specific than that."

"Why?" Sephiroth replied flustered. "Do you really need to know?"

"Of course. Just spit it out."

He couldn't believe he'd have to say this. "We kissed. That's all."

"Was it big and sloppy?"

"I'm not going to describe it," Sephiroth indignantly defended himself. "You don't need to know details."

"Sounds like it must have been, then. What else were you guys going to do?"

"Nothing," Sephiroth sniped.

"Hmm…Sex? No, you wouldn't have had time. Though you might have been thinking it."

"We decided against that, not that you need to know."

"Were you yanking each other's—"

"_Angeal!_ Highly inappropriate. You've heard enough."

Angeal snorted at Sephiroth's reaction. Typical. "So, how do you feel after kissing him?"

"What do you mean?"

"Do you like him?"

Sephiroth looked away and went back to brushing his hair. "We've had this discussion before."

"Things can change."

"It was the aphrodisiac. That was it." He had to convince himself it was that. He knew that it was something else…that the aphrodisiac probably wore off and he was just hormonally charged because he hadn't done anything. He acted out because maybe…just maybe he liked Genesis and he was afraid to admit it.

But he would have never acted like _that_ even if he did like him. No, he wouldn't believe it was his doing at all. It had to be something else.

It wasn't long until they had a knock at the door and Angeal opened it up. The large woman from the front desk had a cart with food at the top and clothes on the bottom. "Room service."

Sephiroth's problems quickly washed away as the hunger set in. Might as well satisfy one part of him.

"If you boys need anything don't be afraid to ask," she remarked.

Sephiroth nodded, "Of course." He turned his eyes onto Genesis and smacked his bareback. "Wake up."

Genesis sat up and glared at him before slapping Sephiroth back, "Whore. Ten more minutes." He fell back into bed and covered his head with a pillow. The woman saw this and started to make her way back to the door, surprised at such behavior. Someone had called Sephiroth a whore. That was just surprising!

Sephiroth waited for the door to close before he reached over and grabbed Genesis's sides. The redhead jumped and kicked Sephiroth in the chest. "No, no! Don't tickle me!" He started to laugh as Sephiroth jabbed him. His struggling was all in vain until he shouted, "I'm losing my towel!"

Sephiroth let Genesis breath for a minute before smiling, "Why should I care if you're naked?"

Genesis tried to think of a good comeback, but didn't have much of one, "I'll rape you."

"Doubtful," Sephiroth responded.

"Yeah, it's not rape if he likes it," Angeal replied. He had already began to poke through the clothes to figure out what he was going to use.

Genesis lifted his head and saw Angeal. "Whoa. Hi. I didn't see you over there."

"Good thing you didn't do anything, hmm?" Angeal retorted once he threw the clothes at them. "Get your pants on, no one wants to see that."

Genesis stood up and started to struggle putting on his clothes, "What do you mean 'do anything'? What would I do?"

Angeal snorted, "I already know what you two did last night."

Genesis stopped and he glanced at Sephiroth who wouldn't look at him. "Oh. Wait. Are you just saying that?"

"No, I'm not."

"Um. Well okay." Genesis toyed with putting the belts on. "How'd you figure it out?"

"Your boyfriend told me, who else?"

Sephiroth glared icily at Angeal. "Don't."

Genesis had to step in. He didn't want to see those two fight, or at least see Sephiroth upset. "Yeah, we're not dating. It was just…an accident. Could we forget about it and focus on our mission?"

"First rape, now this? What else do you want me to forget?"

Genesis felt so embarrassed. He was asking a lot, wasn't he? "I just don't want to compromise any of our current reputations. There's no point in talking about this anyway."

"No point? Are you crazy? You two getting friendly means a lot more than you think."

"Like what?"

"Consequences."

"Oh God, please don't lecture about—"

"Getting caught, Genesis. Not what you're thinking."

Genesis sighed and he sat down once he was dressed. "We weren't caught."

"If it was someone else entering into the room they would have known."

"That was just one time. It's not like we're going to do that again." Genesis wished he could say they were steady, but he didn't know what Sephiroth thought of the situation.

Sephiroth was already eating by now even with the personal conversation going on. If he just pretended to listen maybe it'd end faster?

"I know you, Genesis, this won't be the last time," Angeal stated.

"But Sephiroth," Genesis pointed at the 1st class SOLDIER. He had stopped drinking his coffee when he was pointed out.

Angeal turned his eyes to Sephiroth wondering what the man had to say to defend himself. The silver-haired figure finally spoke up after awhile, "It won't happen again."

Angeal rolled his eyes and shook his head. "You know, Sephiroth, aphrodisiacs don't last that long. Maybe your hormones were still pent up from it, but you still had control of yourself. You know that."

Sephiroth put his cup down and looked up at Angeal. "I know."

"Then what makes you say that it won't happen again?"

For a minute there Sephiroth didn't know. But the answer came to him rather quickly enough. "Because I don't want to risk getting caught. It's important that we stayed focused on missions…not relationships. So can we drop this and move on? I don't care for personal problems."

Genesis wasn't sure what he was feeling right now. So…it was Sephiroth's actions, maybe over enhanced, but it was his decision…. Yet, he was saying it wasn't worth it. So what was that supposed to mean? It was going to end completely? Genesis didn't know if he wanted to go through that. He had been heartbroken before by Sephiroth, must he feel that all over again? It was as if the Goddess was against him in allowing the two to be together.

Before anything else could be said the phone started to ring. Sephiroth rose up and grabbed it without hesitation. "Yes?"

A haggard and out-of-breath voice came ringing through the other end. "Oh! Mr. Sephiroth, we've got a big problem on our hands! There's Wutai men all over the streets of Rocket Town! They're searching for you I think!"

Sephiroth tensed up and looked toward the window, but the blinds were closed. "Get to a safe spot, we'll handle this."

"Thank you, and be careful!"

Sephiroth turned his eyes to the other two, "Wutai warriors are here. Get your blades and let's finish them."

Genesis felt so panicked that such things had crawled up on them when they least expected it. Though they still didn't have their usual blades with them, Genesis was starting to get used to the standard katanas that Wutai had given them, even if they were poor quality in comparison to the rapier he possessed.

"What exactly are we going to do? Should we split up?" Genesis moved toward the window and peeked out at the world. "Oh shit."

Angeal and Sephiroth moved over at that exclamation and could see that there was indeed a swarm of Wutai men around the place. Sephiroth started to quickly calculate where they were all at and how long they had. His eyes moved around the area before he turned to his partners. "In order to save as many civilians as possible we're going to have to leave the building. We need to draw them all out in the open. I'll go out and they'll come for me. I want you two to stay back until they rush at me. Understand?"

Genesis looked at Angeal before he nodded, "Yeah…be careful."

Sephiroth smirked, "I will be if you're watching my back. Now let's go. Hurry." They rushed down the stairs and together Angeal and Genesis dropped back to the shadows of the streets while Sephiroth moved to the middle, displaying himself for them all to see. At first there was nothing different about the streets he was on aside from their lifeless façade. Sephiroth didn't need to see them to know that they were lurking, holding themselves to nooks and crannies as they prepared for a battle. Slowly they started to slither forth, first in patches and them in a swarm. Sephiroth's blade stayed at his side, unmoving as the group started to grow. He saw gunmen on the roofs and he could sense the men coming from behind, surrounding him like cats would do to a mouse. The entire town had fallen into a deadened silence, but Sephiroth could feel their hearts beating hard, could hear their breathing as they prayed and aimed their guns or clenched the hilts of their swords. His eyes needn't see their scared expressions to know that their bodies were sweating and tightening. They didn't know when to go. All of them were preparing for someone ahead of him to make the first move, and the thought kept pressing forward until it stopped at the first row. They were the ones who were frozen, knowing their deaths would be the first shed on these streets.

Sephiroth could feel all of it as he stood there. And though it felt like hours had passed in that stance, it was actually mere seconds. A burst came forth from one strong young man in the front as he rushed toward Sephiroth with his blade held high. It ignited the entire group and they started to move forward as well, blades shining in the blazing morning sun as it started to rise its crimson wave upon them.

Sephiroth didn't move yet.

Genesis and Angeal waited silently, their own sweat breaking out on their foreheads as their legs twitched for the action. _Steady…steady…not yet…not yet…_ Genesis's mind spun as the events started to come down slowly, the charge slinking to a halt it felt like, but it was merely his mind playing games on him. When the first swordsman was only a foot away from Sephiroth he rushed forth, cuing Angeal to come in as well. It felt as if time had slowed when he rushed past Sephiroth and cut the boy in two, his blood thrusting forth onto Genesis and spraying his clothes completely with the crimson liquid. He twisted and jabbed someone in the ribs, cut a throat, broke someone's nose into their face….

Angeal had knocked over a crowd and decapitated three men in a row, throwing their bodies into the crowd spraying blood everywhere. Their heads continued to ascend the skies, taking their momentary bliss of nearly floating in the air before they made their inevitable descent.

Sephiroth drew his blade and ran through several men, slicing their stomachs open, dashing brains, removing limbs like he was working with paper and scissors, not humans. He was even faster than Angeal and Genesis, sliding easily around them as he cut into the groups of men and knocking back whoever he couldn't stab into.

This all happened within seconds.

As bodies started to drop like flies the group of men started to become scared, that fear rising heavily in them as it poisoned the air. One man that gave it off set off all the others. In a chain reaction they started to panic and fight ruthlessly, running for safety or shouting orders for someone else to take over.

It didn't take long for the three operatives to splice through them all. The entire Wutai group that had been in the streets were now corpses piling themselves up and covering each other in the last remnants of blood before it stopped pumping forth from the heart.

Genesis felt so ecstatic at the accomplishment, but he had forgotten the gunmen on the rooftops. He heard the click and his eyes shot upward. Sephiroth's back was wide open for them. "Sephiroth! Watch out!" His shout was loud and he didn't feel like it was even his own voice. He had reached forward and yanked Sephiroth down and to the side, causing him to fall to the ground of corpses. Genesis had heard someone else shout, but he couldn't tell who. All he felt was pain when bullets entered into his body. He had let out a horrendous scream at the feeling, his entire body began to shake as the pain rushed through him all over.

Sephiroth at first panicked that Genesis was hit, but he quickly showered the rooftops with magic. He had killed anyone that was alive up there. His eyes whirled around to make sure they were safe before he pulled himself downward to Genesis, joining Angeal in supporting him. Blood soaked his front and was coming from the corner of his mouth. The pained and worried look was there and Sephiroth feared the worst. "Genesis! Genesis, just hold on, okay? You'll be fine, it's not that bad."

Genesis was shaking as he lay there, coughing slightly as some blood was in his throat. "I-It…I-It…h-hurts…"

Sephiroth shook his head, "Don't think about it. Just talk to Angeal, okay?" He got up and rushed off. He needed help. His eyes caught onto a First Aid kit and he grabbed it up, glancing in at the items before rushing off back into the streets. The other operatives were finally pouring out of their holdings, though there were very few of them, and were beginning to gather around at the new scenery.

Sephiroth had gotten back to Genesis's side and he ripped open his shirt, eyes feasting on the bloody and blasted abdomen. Vital organs looked like they might have been missed, but Sephiroth couldn't tell for sure. He started to work quickly in wiping away the blood and wrapping up Genesis as tightly as possible in hopes of stopping the blood from exiting. "You'll be okay," he kept remarking, more to assure himself than Genesis.

Genesis was crying from the intense pain and he started to think about death. "A-Am I g-going to d-die?"

Angeal shook his head, "No, Genesis, you're going to be all right. Sephiroth and I are here to help you. You'll be fine. In fact, you did a good job today, you know that? You'll get to talk to your mother and tell her all the good deeds you've done. How's that sound?"

Genesis kept crying, "Oh Goddess, I am dying."

Sephiroth grabbed Genesis's hand, "No, you're not. You're just hurt. We're going to get you to the hospital and I'm going to call Lazard. We'll get you back to Midgar and you'll be able to rest and heal up, understand?"

Genesis saw the blazing green eyes. So caring and sweet, he could only give a meek nod to agree.

Angeal turned his head to the crowd. "Where's the hospital?" Someone pointed the direction. "You take Genesis and get him settled. I'm going to direct everyone around here."

Sephiroth nodded, "We'll need the bodies moved and the placed washed down. Keep civilians inside as much as you can and get the operatives to work quickly. We don't need this publicized negatively."

"Right."

They split up and Sephiroth carried Genesis down the streets to the hospital. He got inside and got immediate help. It seemed it was too late about the press getting footage of the massacre. All over the television it could be seen, and they were even airing the part of Genesis taking the hit Sephiroth should have received.

He had to sit and wait for the operation to be finished before he could stay with Genesis. He didn't mind waiting, just as long as Genesis was okay…

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"Director, I think it'd be best if we pulled back," Sephiroth replied into his cell phone. He was in Genesis's room sitting beside the slumbering boy. Angeal hadn't come yet even though it had been hours since the incident.

"Don't worry, you won't need to complete the mission. I had a few other operatives move out toward the bases near Rocket Town. They're all deserted aside from one and it was close to empty. It's quite possible they had sent men out to attack you as a distraction for their men leaving back for Wutai. It worked, to say the least."

Sephiroth couldn't believe it. "They're back in Wutai? At least they're out of our way for now…"

"Yes. I think we'll have to give the war a rest, it was risky sending all three of you out like that. Speaking of that, how is Genesis doing?"

Sephiroth glanced at Genesis's peaceful features. He was pale, but his skin seemed so angelic and soft. The bandages on his abdomen didn't take away from his innocent look. "He's resting right now. He was in quite the shock about the entire ordeal, but I think he'll be feeling better soon enough. He was rather lucky…nothing hit vitals even though he was shot six times."

"That…does sound quite lucky. How is cleanup doing?"

"Angeal is taking care of it. They already got footage of everything, but I doubt it'll be that bad."

Lazard sighed at the news, "I can see someone firing at us that it's bad, but we have more people supporting you than not. Besides, if they see the ending part of what happened they won't dare to think SOLDIER is filled with monsters."

Sephiroth thought about how he did his best to save Genesis after the man had done the same for him. "We can only hope."

Lazard shuffled some papers before clicking a few things on his computer. "Get some rest, the three of you, and return home safely after you're finished in Rocket Town."

"All right."

Sephiroth hung up and put his phone away. When his eyes glanced over Genesis he saw the blue eyes staring deeply at him. "Genesis, you should rest."

Genesis nodded, "I am."

His hand moved down instinctively and grasped Genesis's. Sephiroth wasn't sure what to even say. That he was glad the guy was okay? "Genesis…"

"Yes?"

"I…" Sephiroth couldn't pull himself to say it. Even in this room he felt like the walls were watching him. "We're….going to go home soon."

Genesis coughed slightly and winced at the pain. "Okay."

They sat there for awhile just staring at each other as if nothing else mattered, but it was Genesis that made the first move. "Sephiroth?"

"Yes?"

"I love you."

Sephiroth wasn't sure how to respond. He liked Genesis…even felt a twinge of pain that he had gotten hurt. But to say those words he had never uttered in his life…

"I'm…sorry," Sephiroth whispered. At first Genesis wondered if he meant about the love and he could feel his mood starting to plummet, but Sephiroth continued to explain himself. "I'm sorry I've caused you so much pain. Especially right now, saving my life by willing to sacrifice your own. I think if anyone were to ask me…you are the hero, not me. You put up with a lot of…problems. You haven't given up, though. It's….admirable."

Genesis smirked, "I…wasn't expecting such praise. But really…all I wanted…was to protect you. You mean a lot to me, I wouldn't want to lose that."

Sephiroth kept his grasp on Genesis's hand, taking his words in very deeply. He almost felt guilty that he didn't return the same words. At this moment…he was just so confused about his emotions. Almost losing Genesis had really frightened him, and he knew he was starting to feel something for the man, but…still. Maybe he was just rushing it? He needed to go slow, to think it out. The entire mission had just been toying around with him too much.

"When you get better I'm going to make it up to you." Sephiroth rubbed Genesis's arm comfortingly. "I promise."

Genesis nodded, "Okay."

Together they sat in that quiet moment, holding each other's hand in a tight grasp while the hours passed. The clasp only slackened when Genesis had fallen back to sleep. But that was okay, to Sephiroth, it didn't matter how hard he held on, just as long as the hand continued to stay in his grasp. He didn't want to let go. Not now…nor ever.

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Hope you liked it! And it's not over yet, oh ho no. Still got more planned for you all! Please review, I love hearing from you all! Especially all of you giving me giant ass paragraphs, those always make me happy.

'Til next time!


	11. Chapter 11

Another chapter for my wonderful readers!

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_You know, I never thought I'd be so excited to get back to Midgar. The place is buzzing with love for us, blasting music and shouts of happiness that we've returned. I've never seen a parade like this before, it's so beautiful. And the things the girls wear. Some of shirts of Sephiroth on them, others the electrical company's symbol, and quite a few of the President's face. So many beautiful people…_

They were on the helicopter pad, but not at Shinra's. It seemed they were going to do the whole walking procession and everything. "Oh man, this is great. Look at all of them lining the streets of Midgar to see you, Sephiroth."

Sephiroth had gotten out of the helicopter and turned back to him, his hand coming out to help Genesis off. "It's a pity, they should be cheering for you instead."

Genesis chuckled and winced. Though he was walking now his body was still very sore. They had only let him rest up for a few days before leaving Rocket Town, judging that it was 'too dangerous' for them to stay longer. Not that Genesis cared or anything, he was glad to get out of there. "Actually, they should cheer for Angeal. He carried all the dead bodies like a champ."

Angeal landed down beside them and rolled his eyes. "It's not as heroic as getting shot."

Genesis stretched slightly and moved slowly from the pad over to the edge, eyes scanning at the fanfare and happy girls. "Damn, they're smoking."

Sephiroth pulled him away, "Come on. We're going to walk by all of them, you'll get a better glance that way."

Angeal sighed, "Don't encourage him."

"Why not? Nothing wrong with him trying to find a girlfriend in the crowd."

"Hey, sugar dumplings, let's get this going, eh?" A redhead with a rat tail was standing there holding an odd weapon in one hand. His clothes were disheveled and all over the place unlike the friend beside him. He was pristine looking with a bald head, and his shades went well against his dark skin.

"Sugar dumplings?" Genesis questioned his words. Who was this guy?

"Reno…Rude," Sephiroth replied effortlessly. "We'll try not to waste your time."

Reno snorted, brushing his red mane back, "Yeah whatever, Sephiroth. Your parades never end."

They went down the stairs and got onto level ground heading toward the crowds of people. They all felt agitated and excited to be so well accepted back to Midgar, but Genesis always had that bumming feeling that he was non-existent in this crowd. It was Sephiroth they wanted, not some boy wonder.

As they started to walk they felt deafened as the crowds roared. Genesis was keeping his eyes mostly on the ladies out there, seeing their shirts all decked out with Sephiroth on them. Some weren't even wearing bras from what he could tell. _New way to boob someone in the face I suppose. Haha, boob. Ahem._ Genesis turned his attention to Sephiroth as he was keeping his eyes forward, ignoring the entire crowd. _Man, how does he do it? I can't help but look around!_ "Man, you must do this a lot."

Sephiroth broke his glance from the front view to stare down at Genesis, a slight smile gracing his face, "Yes, I have. Maybe one day you'll get used to it, too?"

Genesis laughed, "Yeah right."

They met the steps and Sephiroth got up two before he turned to see that Genesis was taking his time. He lend his hand out for Genesis, "Here, let me help you."

Genesis grabbed his hand and moved up the steps stiffly. "God, why are there so many of them?"

"Just think, if Shinra didn't have elevators it'd take you all day to get to your room."

"Kind of like how long it'd take you to get there when you're wasted."

Sephiroth chuckled, "Let's not get into that."

Angeal grabbed the door for them and they entered only to find that Headquarters had allowed the press to be there. Sephiroth didn't have time to warn them how to act as they were swamped with cameras, recorders, and microphones.

"How does it feel to save the Legendary Hero from possibly being killed?" It was the first question asked at Genesis and for once he didn't know what to say. How does it feel? _Fucking dandy, it hurts like a bitch. They probably won't appreciate that._

"I wouldn't say 'Legendary Hero' at all. I saved my friend and comrade. It's what any person should do if they were in my position."

"Sephiroth! Were you scared that this gentleman could have died when he pulled such a stint?"

Sephiroth calmly replied to the question, "There's always an initial shock when someone is hurt, but I never feared that Genesis was going to die. He's too stubborn to give up that easily." A few of the reporters chuckled at that remark.

"What exactly are you going to do now about the war?"

Angeal had taken this one. "It's necessary that we regroup and rest for awhile, but we're not backing down. Wutai has been struck heavily and they're heading back to their homeland in hopes of preparing for another attack. But really, no one has ever been successful in preparing against an attack from SOLDIER."

They agreed and turned back to Sephiroth. "How does it feel to be working with these two? Usually you're doing solo missions."

"It's a nice change. Angeal and Genesis provide great input and perspective to every situation. Besides, I wouldn't have been able to do this mission without either of them."

"How's that make you feel?" a man asked Genesis.

"Like I should buy him a beer," Genesis replied.

Sephiroth smirked, "Oh, that's all?"

Genesis chuckled, "Oh I see how it is. You want more. Of course you want more. How's about a giant cake with strippers inside? Or…a giant cake with me inside, because you love me."

Sephiroth gave a slight laugh. Oh God, Genesis should never say that out loud, especially to the press! What to say back? "How's about we save the cake idea for one of the high officials? It'd give them something to blush about."

Genesis nodded, "Oh yeah. Now we have to do it."

Angeal sighed at them before nodding his head, "Come on. Someone as sick as yourself should get back to bed and rest."

They had slipped away from the reporters and made it to the elevator. Genesis yawned slightly and leaned against the wall. "Well…that was nifty."

"At least you didn't say anything too ridiculous," Angeal commented. "Although jumping out of cakes does seem quite out there."

"Should do it on Hojo," Genesis remarked. He saw the expression on their faces and he couldn't help but laugh. "What? It'd be hilarious."

Sephiroth shook his head, "No. It'd be terrible."

"You're just scared."

"Yeah, because he's a mad scientist. If you're not careful he'll have you on a table with tubes coming out of regions that shouldn't have tubes coming out of them."

"Sounds like you know him pretty well, huh?"

Sephiroth glared at him. "Don't start."

"Okay, I won't." Genesis watched the doors open and the operatives were all there shouting 'welcome back!' "Whoa, wasn't expecting that."

"We missed you guys, we decided to throw y'all a party!"

The three looked at each other before deciding to go with it. Free party for them, at least. They moved into one of the lounging rooms and found it completely decked out for them. They were handed something to drink and they went ahead with cracking it open and enjoying themselves. They deserved it after all the hard work they were doing.

But of course, Genesis was too much of a party animal. If there was something that he shouldn't do, it'd be drinking. Yet he went ahead with it anyway and started to get to his usual frisky and promiscuous self. They were doing shots and Genesis was getting hammered. "This is greaaat! We should do this more often," Genesis commented as he did a 'cheers' move before downing another shot. He winced at the taste before recovering with a big smile.

Sephiroth had kept a close eye on him, getting the jealous feeling whenever Genesis leaned on someone too long or grabbed at another person. He didn't know why he was getting possessive. Really, Genesis wasn't his or anything…

The redhead came teetering over at some point and sat practically on top of him even though there was clearly more room on the couch. "Hey, Sephiroth," Genesis replied before he hiccupped. "Ohh." He hiccupped again. "Haha. Awesome."

"Enjoying yourself?" Sephiroth asked him and watched as Genesis nodded with exaggeration. "That's good."

"Hey guys, we got caaaake!" The group cheered and a cake was brought over to the table. "Our first pieces should go to Angeal, Genesis, and Sephiroth." The person cutting the cake brought the three pieces over. "But…as a catch, I think Genesis should have to eat his off of someone he picks." Just because Genesis was pasted. Everyone cheered at the idea hoping to see the guy do something really stupid.

"Ohh…anyone?" Genesis asked, his pink cheeks starting to get rosier at the thought.

"Yes. Anyone."

Sephiroth wished he could turn invisible right then and there. Though he was jealous that Genesis did things to others, he didn't want the attention all on him. But Genesis hardly scanned the group. His eyes were set on Sephiroth. "I pick Sephiroth."

The group cheered loudly but Sephiroth had to disagree. "I don't think that's a good idea."

Genesis snorted, "Finish your beer and it'll be a good idea." The group hollered in agreement.

Sephiroth wondered if they'd even think anything of it. Everyone was just drunk, they wouldn't find anything weird about this. He polished off his beer and set the bottle down. "I suppose, as long as you don't do anything stupid."

"It won't be that stupid. Now take your shirt off."

The group gave another cheer as Sephiroth took his top off, though he wasn't sure why he was abiding to such rules. Maybe he was just feeling risky today? He reclined and watched one of the 2nd class boys come over and take the piece of cake. "Let me help you, Genesis. Try not to move too much, Sephiroth." The guy turned the piece upside down and dragged the frosting up Sephiroth's abdomen, onto his chest, and up his neck. He follow Sephiroth's chin and then dabbed some sloppily on his cheek, getting some on his mouth. "Not quite finished. Need the finishing touch," he remarked and covered Sephiroth's nipples with it. The group hollered with laughter.

Genesis smiled at the display and he easily chose to start at the rim of Sephiroth's pants, at first taking his time to lap up the frosting. He didn't want to keep his lips off of Sephiroth. His tongue worked up his abs and onto his chest with ease. He moved for the left nipple first, licking it hungrily before polishing it clean. When he went to the right one he wrapped his mouth around it and sucked the frosting off, making Sephiroth wince at the feeling. Sephiroth's comfort level started to feel very violated once Genesis had started on his neck. He was practically biting him, and at one point Sephiroth almost laughed at how much it tickled. Genesis dragged his tongue seductively all the way up Sephiroth's neck and cleaned off the spot on his chin, giving it a slight kiss, though it was masked by pretending to suck up any leftover frosting. The group was now anticipating the last splotch that was near Sephiroth's mouth. As Genesis started to get close they started to cheer him on, and Sephiroth could feel his comfort level dropping to intolerable points. Genesis started near the edge, the furthest point away from Sephiroth's lips, and gently kissed the spot, taking in the frosting carefully as he moved on and worked his tongue on Sephiroth's smooth skin. It got to the very last bit and the group was shouting his name. Genesis smirked. He couldn't help what he was going to do next.

He slid his tongue to wipe up the remaining bit and felt Sephiroth's lips. He kissed those sultry lips even if it was in front of everyone.

The entire group went into a frenzy, like it was a good thing. Beer bottles were clanked together and drinks were chugged. Sephiroth wondered if perhaps they didn't see how that ended, they were mostly watching for the finishing of Genesis's lapping duty. Eugh. Sephiroth sat up and wiped his mouth off. "I think that's enough partying for me," Sephiroth remarked.

"Already? Oh come on…" Genesis whined, "Live a little."

"Actually, Genesis, I think you're done, too," Angeal informed him. "You've had enough alcohol. You probably shouldn't even be drinking with the amount of wounds you have. Let's get you to bed."

Genesis frowned as Sephiroth and Angeal helped him up. The group seemed sad that they were going so early, but they promised to save some cake for them. As if Sephiroth wanted any of it. He was going to be thinking about Genesis's kisses tasting like it if he had a piece…

And he really didn't want to think about being violated like that ever again. Bad enough his torture was such a drag…

"Can I sleep with Sephiroth?" Genesis asked as he leaned into the 1st class hero.

"I don't know, Genesis, you really need to rest…" Sephiroth replied. He wasn't sure if he wanted to have him drunk and in his room. Things could happen…

"I'll sleep, I won't do anything." Genesis held up his hand. "Scout's honor."

Sephiroth smirked at that. "Well…if you can get ready for bed and make it to my room without a problem, then I suppose you can."

"Oh don't worry, I'll make sure I make it," Genesis saluted him before heading into his room with Angeal.

The 2nd class SOLDIER hesitated toward his door and ahem'd at Sephiroth. "You're encouraging him, you do realize that."

"I know. It doesn't matter. Just because he comes into my room doesn't mean anything."

Angeal snorted, "Right."

By the time that Sephiroth had finished getting ready himself he had nearly smacked into Genesis who came teetering into the room. He held onto the man and stared into Genesis's blue eyes for a minute, feeling as if this was a moment they should really take in and share. If no one else had been there watching, Sephiroth would have kissed Genesis back during that party. He leaned in and kissed him, taking in his partner's taste with curiosity. It still made him uncomfortable to act like this, but it also felt enticing. Sephiroth wasn't sure what he liked more, the rigid life of killing or the risky life of lust.

"You look tired. Come on, let's get some rest."

They got into bed and Sephiroth held onto Genesis as the man's back was against his chest. He could already feel Genesis giving into a heavy slumber, but he didn't know if he could give in just yet.

Was he…really prepared to spend every single night like this? He knew that Genesis would want to spend more time with him, especially after recent experiences. But…was he ready? All the risks he was taking, the possible ways he could be found out. The very thought of it terrified him. But…could he really just give up?

Sephiroth traced a spot on the blanket before he moved his hand to grab Genesis's. Time. He just needed time to figure it all out….

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

A soft beep coming from Genesis's pants made both of them stir. A heavy groan escaped the redhead's mouth and Sephiroth glanced over to see what time it was. They had slept in a bit longer than he thought they would, but it wasn't too late. Morning had just started, the beams of golden light were kissing the windows and bringing in sunlight. The beep went off again and Sephiroth patted Genesis's ass before reaching into his front pocket to find what was making the noise. The redhead had made a few cutesy noises at being touched, but had lost his happiness once the phone was produced. "I thought you were toying with me."

"I apologize, I'll be sure to do that next time," Sephiroth muttered and flipped the phone open. "Lazard wants you."

"Who doesn't?" Genesis joked.

"You should probably go," he remarked.

Genesis turned to face Sephiroth and he wrapped his arms around Sephiroth's neck. "Right now?" He kissed Sephiroth on the lips and felt himself smile when Sephiroth returned the motion. "I don't know if I want to let go just yet."

Sephiroth gave him another kiss in hopes to motivate him. He still felt awkward, scared being with him. "You can't be with me forever."

Genesis looked depressed at his words. "I know, I just…" He sat up and toyed with the blankets. "I just want to spend some more time with you…we just got back from war, why are we being rushed to do more?"

"You're wounded, you won't be doing anything extraneous. Lazard will probably want a recap of what went on. He'll want evaluations and other information."

"I can't do that with you?" Genesis questioned Lazard's motives.

"If you're evaluating Angeal and me I don't think you'll want us in the room."

Genesis swung his legs to touch the ground but he didn't move to put his clothes on. "What should I say?"

"Just tell him what we did."

"But…the first base." Genesis's eyes landed on Sephiroth. "We completely lied about it."

Sephiroth thought of the rape and he mentally scolded himself for pushing that out of his mind. In fact, he should make sure Genesis went and got tested for any diseases before they did anything more than kiss. Would it be a harmful subject to bring up? "Say that we went in to interrogate him and he gave us a few answers, but a guard walked in and we had to kill them. That covers that up." He brushed his hair out of the way and brought himself to finally say it. "Genesis, after you talk to Lazard you should go get tested."

Genesis turned his eyes onto Sephiroth and he looked away again, his face started to burn and his throat was clamping up. "W-What…should I do for that? How will I cover that up?"

"Go to the hospital wing and ask for a check-up on your bullet wounds. When it's just you and the doctor ask him about getting tested for any blood diseases that might have transferred. Say that you want to make sure you haven't gotten anything. He'll understand."

"That's all?"

"Yes. Don't panic. Now go talk to Lazard."

Genesis got up and held his stomach, "I need to get dressed first."

"Try not to get caught coming out," Sephiroth warned him. Genesis glanced out the door cautiously and found the hallway was empty as usual. He left and went back to his room, though Angeal wasn't there. He always wondered where his friend went off to even if he wasn't on duty…

By the time he got to Lazard's it seemed the blonde was well underway at working on something that he almost didn't hear the redhead enter into his office. He peered up and fixed his glasses gently before smiling at Genesis. "There you are, I wasn't sure when you'd make it in."

"Sorry. It takes awhile to get around when everything hurts." Genesis moved over and took a seat so that he could rest. "What did you need?"

"You look a bit tired, did I wake you up?"

"Yeah, it's okay."

Lazard kept his eyes on him for awhile, "Were you drinking last night?"

_What the hell is this, an interrogation? I thought he wanted something important…_ "Yeah, the guys wanted to celebrate so I did."

Lazard nodded his head and he clicked a few things on his computer before the screen behind him lit up and started to play a video. It showed the party room and it was evident which one Genesis was. He was grabbing people and flirting all over the place. "Did you forget that Shinra has cameras everywhere?"

Genesis felt himself turn red and he looked away from the tap, "Oh. I…I was really tipsy. I drank too much, it kind of...mixed with the medicine I guess."

"I'm sure," Larzard said with a hint of doubt in his voice. He moved through the tape and clicked onto a specific part. "Tipsy enough to do this, right?"

Genesis looked up and felt his cheeks burn as it showed him licking up Sephiroth's body and then getting the part on his face. He could see that he had kissed him, but he didn't think it was obvious until Lazard zoomed in and let it repeat. Genesis looked at it and looked away. "Um. It was an accident. I should probably just…apologize."

Lazard moved over to a different camera and showed Sephiroth and him together in the hallway. When it advanced it showed him walking down to Sephiroth's door and going in. "Accident? What have you two been up to?"

"Nothing, I promise. We're just friends, I wouldn't jeopardize Sephiroth's entire career like that. I mean, I wouldn't do that to anyone."

"These tapes say otherwise. If these had leaked what would we be able to do? Just accept your word?"

"I…yeah…why wouldn't you? I haven't lied before. Sephiroth wouldn't lie…from what I know."

Lazard exited out of the system and he shook his head, "Genesis, I don't know what you're up to…but it's best that you keep your distance from Sephiroth. We don't need to have anyone thinking the wrong thing, do we?"

Genesis felt so pissed at his words. "Let people think what they want. I'm not giving up my friend just because people are sick-minded."

Lazard lowered his glasses slightly and then readjusted them. "Genesis…" His eyes were staring right into the operative's. "I know you're not just friends with Sephiroth. You weren't 'just friends' with me, either. Now please, take my words and apply them. Don't hang on him as much, he has his spot on the pedestal and it shouldn't be covered in scandal."

Genesis didn't reply back. _Should I tell Sephiroth this? That Lazard knows? Should I keep it to myself? I'm so frightened about what to do. I want him to stay safe, but I want to stay with him. Why is this so Goddamn hard?_ "What else did you want?" Genesis's voice was hardly audible.

Lazard kept his eyes on Genesis before he pulled out some files. "Let's go over your time during the mission. Then I might have something to tell you after this is all over, depending on what you tell me."

Genesis didn't understand what he meant, but he decided to oblige. It was best to get it out of the way…

After going over it all Genesis could feel the drag of the rape and being shot weighing in on him. He wanted to go lay down for awhile, but he continued to sit there as Lazard scrawled down whatever was said on paper. He felt so impatient, but what was he supposed to say? He didn't want to whine…

"Well, if Angeal and Sephiroth give me good feedback…you will be promoted to 2nd class. Hopefully they thought that you did well." Lazard remarked.

Genesis sat up straight at that, "Really? I can…get 2nd class title after this mission?"

Lazard looked up at him. "Yes, it's possible. It was a big mission you took on, and you faired well. You even risked your own life to save someone else's, I can tell you that it fits under good standards for a promotion. But we must wait for your friends to comply with the words you have given me."

Genesis nodded his head, "Okay."

"That's all I needed you for. You're going to have plenty of time to rest and get back into shape because of your injuries you sustained. Please be careful."

Genesis nodded again and he got up, leaving the office. The anger he felt toward Lazard had vanished completely. He was too busy thinking about being a part of the 2nd class group. He was so excited!

His excitement quickly disappeared once he got into the hospital wing and made his way over toward the front desk. The woman looked up at him and he gave a nervous smile. "I'm…um…hoping to..to get my bandages changed."

She smiled back at him and checked the schedule, "You came at a good time. The doctor isn't busy. Just head down the hallway and take a left at the last door."

He moved out and headed into the small room. It didn't take long for a nurse to check him over and for a doctor to soon come in to help him. "How is it feeling so far?"

"Um…fine I think."

"Any aches or pains?"

"Not really."

"How's about sleeping?"

"Fine…"

His eyes went to Genesis. "Was it?"

"Well…I drank a little last night."

"Oh, I see. You shouldn't do that while on this medication."

"Yeah, I guess I was just…caught up on coming back here. It won't be a problem."

"That's good to hear. Was there anything you wanted to ask me?"

Genesis felt himself start to get nervous again. "Um. Yeah…I had a question. Um. C-Could you do…a blood test? For…diseases? I…I was covered in a lot of it, I'm just…"

"Making sure you're not contaminated."

"Y-Yeah."

"Of course." He went over and grabbed a piece of paper, slapping it onto a clipboard. "You just need to answer some questions, we can take a sample of your blood, and get back to you once we know the results."

"Okay."

"First off, have you been tested before?"

"Um. No."

"How exactly do you think you obtained foreign blood into your system?"

_Oh Goddess, I have to answer that? What should I say?_ "Um. W-What do you mean?"

"Well, was it through the mouth, a possible open wound? There's always sexual interactions."

"Um. Through a wound." He hesitated. "I've…had sex as well, would that affect it?"

"As of recent?"

"Um…yeah, sort of recent."

The doctor marked it down. "Would you say in the past month? Three months? Year?"

_Oh man. Would he know it was on my mission? Yes, he would. Could he tell anyone? I don't think he could…_ "Um…Maybe…like… two months. And a few times before that."

"Same partner?"

"No."

"How many?"

"Partners?"

"Yes."

"Um…three."

"Do you know if they've been with others previously to being with you?"

"The…last one, maybe."

"No protection?"

"N-No."

"Are they male, female, both?"

"Males." _I can't believe I'm doing this._

"Did you participate in oral?"

"U-Um…I…didn't…perform on them, no." _Oh God. So awkward._

"Have you had anything unusual happen to your genitals, such as burning, itching, swelling, warts…"

"N-No. They're…normal." _Dear heavens! I'm going to kill Sephiroth for making me go through this!_

"No bleeding?"

"No."

"Any changes in your diet, sleeping pattern?"

"No."

"Experience any fatigue as of late?"

"After I got shot, yeah."

The doctor smiled slightly. "That's normal." He looked up at Genesis. "Any comments?"

"No."

"Then we should be done with that. Let me get the blood sample and we'll be done."

Genesis felt so relieved once he had gotten out of there. He wasn't even psyched about the 2nd class thing anymore. Too much worry and conflict had flooded his mind over the matter on if he had any diseases or not. He dragged himself out of the hospital and moved for the elevator only to meet up with Professor Hojo in there. At first Genesis didn't know if he should say anything to the man as he got on. He decided a mutual greeting would suffice. "Good morning, Professor."

The man looked Genesis over critically before analyzing his behavior. "Judging by your looks, you must have been quite busy partying last night. And you just came from the hospital, meaning you got your bandages changed, but since you're sweating I think you must have done something far dumber than just drink last night. Am I right? Or is there more to this story?"

Genesis couldn't believe him! How did he do it? "I-I…no, I didn't do anything last night. Doctors make me nervous. They give you shots when they shouldn't or prescribe wrong medicines sometimes…"

"Childhood trauma. Rest assured, these doctors know what they're doing. You should have more faith in Shinra."

"I…yeah, you're right."

"By the way, how's Sephiroth? You were with him on that mission, weren't you? Of course, considering you were televised all over getting shot to death."

_I really want to see this. Does it look heroic at all? Then again, why would I want to agonize myself by reliving it all? At least I won't feel it this time around…_ "He's doing fine since he wasn't…wounded."

"Good to hear." The doors opened and he moved forward, "See? This is why he shouldn't do solo missions. He needs expendable crewmen." Hojo had left right after those words.

_Wow…what a fucking bastard! He just said I should die! That dick!_ Genesis felt so upset that he almost didn't get off on his floor. Angrily he trudged into his room and slammed the door, wrapping himself up in his blankets. He just wanted to sleep this entire week away.

Angeal had been in the closet pulling down clothes to switch in for the other color since he didn't have time to do it previously and almost had a heart attack at the door slamming. He wondered who the hell it could have been when he glanced over and saw a lump in Genesis's bed. Slowly he set the shirt back onto the bar and he walked himself over to Genesis, staring down at his friend. Looked like he could use some comfort. Eh. He had Sephiroth for that, didn't he? Nah, if he hadn't gone directly to Sephiroth then perhaps it had to deal with him. Oh, what if they were fighting again? Great, just what he wanted to hear about for the millionth time. Whatever, he'd just deal with it for now and hope that Genesis would grow up. "Genesis, what's wrong?"

Genesis turned his eyes onto Angeal and found him hovering over him, his usual expression of concern plastered on his face. "Angeal…everything's wrong."

Angeal took that as his cue to sit down on the bed and comfort him. "Everything? What happened?"

Genesis sat up and looked at Angeal before sighing. "I had to meet with Lazard today. He got footage of the party last night, he told me I needed to back off of Sephiroth. He said that I'm just going to ruin Sephiroth's career. He said that…Sephiroth was on a pedestal and it didn't need to be ruined with scandal! Then he made me go over the mission and he commented that I might get into 2nd class, but that he had to go through you and Sephiroth first. Well, Sephiroth had told me to go to the doctor's to get…tests done…because of…well you know."

"The incident. Yes."

"And that was just…nerve-wracking. I hate it how doctors seem so understanding and nonjudgmental about what you say to them, but I'm still really worried about the results and what the guy thinks of me."

"He's a doctor, he has to deal with that stuff all the time."

"He probably thinks I'm a whore! I had to tell him I slept with three guys! And he probably knows that I was with you two, and I had to say that my last time was within two months! And if he pieces all of that together and tells someone like…like the Director, or something, then they'll automatically think it was with Sephiroth. Then I'll have to tell the truth, and then more problems will surface!" Genesis felt like he was going to cry because of all the stress building up on him, but he kept it down as best as he could. He hated crying in front of Angeal. He just didn't think that he should show any emotion like that toward him.

"Doctors have to keep that information confidential, Genesis. Whatever he may think he can't say. If he does he's jeopardizing his own job. Now calm yourself down a bit. You're really stressed because of this mission. You're worried about the test results and Sephiroth's reaction. Just keep yourself positive for now, okay? Nothing odd has happened to you yet, you haven't experienced any symptoms of anything, so it's a good chance that you'll be fine. As for what Lazard said, just take it for a grain of salt. Perhaps he's jealous? And besides, he doesn't know for certain that you've done anything with him. He can't jump on such flimsy conclusions."

"He knew I went into his room last night."

"So? Tell you what, next time anything like this happens you should tell him to back off."

"I kind of did."

"It's Sephiroth's choice to do what he wants with his body. Lazard shouldn't be ordering you around just to make Sephiroth look good."

Genesis looked away. "Does…that mean I should tell Sephiroth that Lazard knows?"

"I think you should. Lazard might mention it to him at some point anyway."

Genesis shook his head and desperately grabbed onto Angeal. "No, I can't let that happen. If Sephiroth knows that someone is suspicious of any type of sexual behavior he'll completely drop me. He doesn't like coming out of his comfort zone, and he's absolutely terrified of being judged! If he knew what Lazard told me I'd hardly ever see Sephiroth. How do you think that'd make me feel, especially after trying to save him?"

There was silence as Angeal took in Genesis's worries. The poor boy didn't want to be lonely again. But it was so true that Sephiroth would act that way. What to do? He didn't want to increase Genesis's anxiety… "Then don't tell him."

Genesis leaned back and slumped as he sighed. "Okay."

"Try not to worry about it so much, okay? You need to rest and get recovered. All of this panicking isn't going to help you get better. Don't let it all gang up on you."

Genesis curled back up into his bed and sniffled a bit. "I…just don't want to lose him."

"You won't." He didn't promise anything, Angeal knew better than that. He got up after he made sure Genesis was completely tucked in and he closed the blinds so the boy could sleep. Now to talk to Sephiroth about that…

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

Sephiroth had talked to Lazard without any problems and made sure to stay truthful but positive toward Genesis's possible promotion. He knew that Lazard was thinking about it, though the man didn't mention it at all. When he had left there he wondered if Genesis and Angeal would like to go out to eat. He was never one to offer up those kinds of services, he was used to being asked, so he didn't know if he should actually suggest such a thing or not. Yet, when he reached the correct floor to talk to them he found Angeal leaving the room.

"Sephiroth, are you busy?"

He shook his head, "Is there something you need?"

"Um…yeah kind of." Angeal arrived over to him and smiled, "Genesis is resting right now. I need to talk to you about him."

Sephiroth followed Angeal as he had decided to take the stairs. "Okay…"

"He's been really sick with worry today. Blood tests, recovery, trauma from being shot and raped…you understand."

"Yes. Does he need…help?"

"No, he just needs to sleep. Listen…he's worried about you as well. I'm just wondering what you're doing with him."

"What…do you mean?"

"Well, let's say this. What if he actually was diseased? What then?"

Sephiroth looked around the place before shaking his head, "Depending on the disease means different outcomes."

"If it's bad?"

"I wouldn't be able to continue with a relationship."

"Not all relationships are based on sex."

"But all of Genesis's relationships have been. And I wouldn't put it past him to want to act like that with me."

"Even if he wasn't diseased you still wouldn't do that with him, I thought."

"Of course I wouldn't. But I'm…more comfortable knowing that if anything were to happen that he's clean."

"I see. What about…let's say someone sees you two together. What would you do then?"

Sephiroth could tell they were getting closer to the busier sections of Headquarters. He hoped they weren't going to keep this conversation going when the crowds appeared. "Define 'sees us together'. What exactly are we doing? Where at?"

"I don't know. Walks into your room and you two are doing it. Maybe you're in public and you're close together. Maybe you're drunk and he's licking cake off of your body."

Sephiroth gave a slight smile at the ending one. "Everyone else was drunk, too, they thought nothing of it. In fact, someone told me that I took it like a man, so I don't think they're too worried about such things. And I don't think anyone would catch us in my room. I keep it locked. And if it wasn't locked, we probably weren't doing anything."

"Let's say you were?"

"Well…I don't know what I'd do."

Angeal sighed, "You'd obviously try to silence him, right?"

"If I act out in anger and try to cover it up, they might find that as holding something over me. But if I act like it doesn't bother me, he could still spread the word. Either way doesn't look good. If I get caught I don't know if I'd want to continue being at risk like that."

"So you'd dump him."

"I suppose, if that's how you want to put it. People think he's a whore, they'd just assume it was a one time deal and blow it off."

"So you'd let him get the brunt of the fire?"

Sephiroth waited until they had gotten outside to answer the question, the buzz of the day covering up their conversation. "Genesis said that he'd take any blame if it meant saving my reputation."

"Just because he says things doesn't mean he wants them to happen."

"Well I wouldn't be able to keep being with him. People will start to try and find us together, they'll want to confirm things happened between us. And when that happens whenever we're together it'd just be all eyes on us. It'd spread all over…"

"That you like someone. How is that a bad thing?"

"It's bad publicity. People will say that I'm going to turn their children gay. Everyone looks up to me, they'll get turned off if they think I'm with another guy. It's not my decision how society thinks…"

"I think it'd depend on how you handled it." Angeal looked around the crowded area and pointed to where they should go. "Do you think Genesis knows that's how you feel about this relationship? That it can be called off when things get risky?"

Sephiroth didn't know. He wasn't sure how Genesis's mind worked. "If he knows then he's willing to feel that pain. If he doesn't…then I must admit that I would feel bad for any potential damage I might cause him."

Angeal slowed down slightly. "What if all of it happened right now. Would you go and tell him everything? That it was over? Right now?"

Sephiroth nodded, "Why would I wait?"

"Because he's mentally and emotionally unstable. He's physically destroyed and the smallest things have got him upset. If you told him that wouldn't you think that it'd be the last straw for him?"

"I…I wasn't thinking about that. I would obviously hold off on saying anything until he was better and able to do missions again."

They had ordered something to drink and sat outside, watching the people, and some of them watching them. "You know…dating isn't like playing with dolls. You have to think ten steps ahead and in all different directions to understand your partner. The outcomes are plenty, just from one action that you do. You need to be careful how you handle him. If you're not…you'll break him."

Sephiroth brought his eyes from Angeal to the asphalt. He needed to be careful…with everything…

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

When a year had passed over Midgar and its SOLDIER brigade, not much could be seen as different. The people didn't change much, the building wasn't decorated differently, and the jobs were the same.

Rumors had always been rumors, circulating throughout the secretaries, spreading to infantrymen, catching the ears of operatives and sometimes dappling into the morning meeting with the head figures of Headquarters. Still, most things weren't taken seriously.

Angeal and Genesis were starting to become well received figures in the news ever since their mission with Sephiroth. It did help Shinra's ratings, and the company had allowed for the two to slowly become more and more popular amongst the crowds. It was merely out of generosity that President Shinra had asked Director Lazard to give them some vacation time to visit their families. And so the two were in Lazard's office being told the good news.

"What do you say, boys? You'll get to go back to Banora and finally catch up with your parents. President Shinra has been particularly charmed in you two and he wants to make sure that you're kept in good spirits. It's as if every time you smile at a fan the ratings go up. Sending you home for awhile should be wonderfully received on Shinra's part."

Genesis's relationship with Sephiroth had been going fairly well over the year. They had a lot of highs and lows, but stuck together the way Genesis always clung to Angeal. It hadn't been brought back up by Lazard and it didn't seem anyone else was complaining about how much time they spent together, so Genesis assumed whatever problems Lazard had before, they were obviously gone now.

Yet, upon hearing news of going back home he wasn't sure how to feel. He was excited to go visit his family, he couldn't deny that. He missed his mother terribly and couldn't wait to hear his father's praise and relatives' glorious remarks about him. But on the other side, Genesis knew that he'd be leaving Sephiroth behind. This was a trip for Angeal and him, not all three. It wouldn't be appropriate to ask for Sephiroth to come and he knew they'd keep Sephiroth relatively busy with missions. In fact, he wouldn't be surprised if he was pulled for another month-long one. It had happened several times over the year and sometimes Genesis started to doubt their relationship together. He didn't like the distance and the fear of Sephiroth getting hurt, but each time Sephiroth came back his love would rekindle itself and he'd tell himself how stupid it was for him to doubt what they had. Yet, now that he was starting to become popular he was getting a taste of the independent life as well. He got some of his own lengthy missions and he was pretty sure he had acquired his own fanbase, though he wasn't sure if it was true yet or not. Needless to say, he wasn't hungry for Sephiroth's attention or the attention he was receiving from others. He was getting his own and enjoying that he wasn't getting sloppy seconds. It wasn't like he disliked Sephiroth, though, but he was adjusting to not having him around as much. The heartbreak of being apart used to be unbearable, but now it hardly passed through his mind.

So, leaving Sephiroth behind was acceptable, though he knew that it would have been nice to bring him home to visit his family. Someone had to do work while they were on vacation, and since Sephiroth didn't have family…might as well make it him.

"When are we leaving?" Genesis asked coolly.

"Tomorrow morning, bright and early. You two should go and get packed, any missions that might have been scheduled for you today have been moved to someone else's plate. You'll be coming back in three weeks."

Angeal smirked at the thought of having three weeks back to the normal life of Banora. He wondered if the apples were ripe for picking. He'd love to help out on the farms again… "We appreciate the President's generosity. We won't waste it."

Lazard chuckled and nodded, blonde hair moving slightly as he set his eyes on Angeal before sliding to Genesis. "I'm sure you two won't."

They left the office and moved for the stairs, deciding to use them over the elevators. Angeal couldn't help but crack a smile at Lazard's behavior and finally decided to break the silence between him and his friend. "Seems Lazard still has goo-goo eyes for you."

"Please, he knows it was a one-time thing. He's just upset he didn't wait until I was more popular to get a piece of my ass."

"Think Rufus will try to crawl back for more, too?"

"I hope not. Blondes can be pretty irresistible," Genesis joked. "Though I've got what I want, so there's no point in dappling with the hungry and horny."

"Instead you settled for crabby and moody. Notice how bitchy Sephiroth's been?"

Genesis couldn't agree more with that statement. Sephiroth was pretty easy to read when he was in one of his famous moods. He was pretty sure Sephiroth had man PMS or something. _Note to self, don't refer to his condition like that ever again. Last time he got really snarly when I did._ Genesis brushed a strand of his hair from his face and sighed. "He hasn't said anything about what's wrong. If I bother asking he just gets snappier and pretends nothing's wrong."

"Maybe you plowed him too hard?" Angeal joked. He enjoyed that after getting over the awkward moments of having his two friends dating that he could make all the disgusting and inappropriate jokes about them. He loved making sex jokes even knowing that Sephiroth and Genesis never participated in such acts.

"Oh please, you know we don't do that." They kept walking up the infamous stairs, wondering when they'd finish. Genesis always lost track of how many steps there were every time. "Though I can imagine he'd be pretty pissed if it was related to that."

Angeal snorted. Here it goes. He was going to learn things about Sephiroth he probably shouldn't. "Like?"

"Like he doesn't want to do anything in the morning. No kisses, no hugs…nothing. He's 'afraid he might bruise' or some bullshit."

"Well if you didn't kiss like a hungry ape he probably wouldn't complain."

"Yeah, I should tone down my rough kisses, especially when they're just pecks."

"Well maybe you're pecking like a woodpecker? Drilling too hard in one spot."

"Or maybe he's just stupid."

"You're the one that likes him."

"I know."

Angeal sighed as they were getting there. His legs always ached whenever he walked up this many stairs, but for some reason he kept torturing himself to keep using them. "Maybe he's bitchy because he thinks you're boning other people?"

Genesis thought back to how they first started out. It was really rough between them until the results for Genesis's tests came back. Thankfully he didn't get anything, which had softened Sephiroth up. But during the year Genesis had flirted with some people, as was natural for him, and it built up in Sephiroth for awhile until the man had bitched him out on the topic. He hadn't known Sephiroth was upset over that. Yet, as Angeal commented on the possibilities for Sephiroth's mood, he wouldn't put it past the 1st class SOLDIER to be particularly picky on who he talked to. As of recent he had been spending a lot of time training with other lower class members. In order for Genesis to get into 1st class he wanted to show he was flexible in being a teacher and being taught. He had picked up on the tip from Angeal and he was doing anything he could to try and look really good for the fat cats. Of course, thanks to his heroic feat of taking a shot for Sephiroth, the President and his comrades had taken quite an interest in him. Genesis figured that Angeal would get the promotion first, as usual, since he was an actual achiever, and then Genesis would get it to sweep up the rest of the ratings and be the social charmer for the masses. Amongst the three of them, Genesis could easily put them all into categories for why they should be 1st class. Sephiroth was clearly the mysterious one who looked extremely attractive because of his unique physique. He also was a cold-blooded killer making him great for dirty missions. Angeal fit in the category of extremely manly. He was rugged and muscular and yet had his own soft side. He was very caring and looked out for everyone, so he fit underneath wisdom. Also, Angeal seemed to have the greatest morals which attracted the eyes of the average people. Genesis believed that he fit in the category of socially and physically charming. He was rich, which pulled in the upper-class, and he was intelligent but spunky. He looked pretty damn good and he was also the flirt. He picked up people's spirits because he naturally hit on everyone.

Genesis couldn't understand why Angeal and he weren't in 1st class already. With those combinations it satisfied every social class out there.

"You know, if he's got a problem he should just speak up about it. He knows that I don't mean anything when I talk to everyone else. Why would he have to throw so many fits?"

"Maybe he likes it when he knows you only sweet talk him. Probably secretly gives him the jollies, eh?"

Genesis laughed, "Yeah right. Whenever I flirt with him he gives me the cold shoulder and asks what I've done wrong now."

"He knows you too well."

"He can suck my dick for all I care. Unless he starts talking I'm not going to bother finding out."

Angeal almost said 'you'd like that too much' but held off as they reached their floor. He checked the time and looked at Genesis. "So, are you going in to tell him you're leaving?"

"I probably should. He'll get indignant if I don't tell him right away."

"Have fun, lover boy."

Genesis knocked on the door and waited for Sephiroth to tell him to come in. He remembered when he had been accepted into 2nd class and he had just burst in and told him the good news, though he had did that to practically everyone, and ended up getting quite the vicious lecture from Sephiroth. But it was mostly because there were people in the hallway watching. Sephiroth had apologized to him later, but it still shook Genesis up whenever he thought about the incident.

He almost didn't catch the grumble and Genesis had to decipher what that meant. _Could be a bad mood and a warning for me to go away. But he could just be sleeping and giving the a-okay to come in. Hmm. I'll just risk it._ Genesis opened the door and entered into the room. The light wasn't on, but the window allowed in enough light for Genesis to get a good view of the room. The place was tidy at the moment, well cleaned whenever Sephiroth was stressed about something. The nightstand looked like a library, though, stacked with books that Genesis was too bored to paw through. Most were factual guides or dumb biographies that could put any man to sleep. The bed was messy, something Sephiroth usually never left untidy in case of any officials decided to stop by and check-in on him. Not that Genesis ever saw officials roaming the hallways in all of his time here…

Yet Sephiroth wasn't in sight. His eyes first went to the bathroom and found the door open and vacant. Next he let his eyes roam to the closet wondering if perhaps it had sucked the man in. It was closed. His attention turned to the kitchen and he moved over to it. _There he is. Hmm. He doesn't sit in here often. I wonder what's wrong now?_ "Hey."

Sephiroth glanced up at him and brought his eyes down to the glass in front of him. He didn't say anything. Genesis took that as a tip to get out, but he knew that once he was in there was no way he could leave the lion's den. "I just came to tell you that Lazard's officially given Angeal and myself vacation time to return to Banora. I'm leaving tomorrow and I'll be gone for three weeks." Genesis wasn't sure if he should sit down and try to make conversation with him. Sephiroth still hadn't looked at him. He decided to keep standing. "So…have you gone on your mission today?" Basic question would mean Sephiroth wouldn't have to answer.

Sephiroth of course took advantage of that and he nodded his head.

"You're pretty quiet. Must have been bad."

Sephiroth shrugged.

Genesis let the silence settle in for awhile until he strode over to Sephiroth's side of the table. He was going to just give him a kiss and leave but he noticed Sephiroth's posture was weird. His eyes followed where his arm was at and it looked like he was holding his side. "Sephiroth, are you okay?"

Sephiroth turned his eyes from him, "It's nothing."

"Now don't give me that. Let me see it." He pulled Sephiroth's arm away and got a glimpse at some insane bruising. "My Goddess. Sephiroth, that looks pretty bad…" He moved to see it better but Sephiroth covered it up again. "I'm guessing you didn't go get it checked out, that must be the only reason why you're hiding it from me."

"It's not bad, it'll heal."

"How did it happen?"

"It doesn't matter."

Genesis glared right into Sephiroth's face. "Sephiroth. I'm worried about you. Please answer my questions."

Sephiroth looked into those burning blue eyes and he knew he couldn't cover up the story. He felt pretty ashamed he even had to explain what happened. "I got…head-butted by a chocobo." He could tell Genesis's worried expression was starting to fade. "I was on the outskirts of Midgar trying to get rid of bandits and when I went to hit the person off of their ride…the animal attacked me."

"Must have a pretty hard head…"

"Yes, it does. I tried to lie down but it hurt too much and I've been sitting here ever since it happened."

"You might have broken a rib. You need to get it looked at."

"I just need to leave it alone and let it heal."

"Oh please. What if you damaged an organ?"

"Then it's damaged. Good luck fixing that," Sephiroth sniped at him.

"Don't give me attitude." Genesis stood straight and crossed his arms over his chest. "I'm generally concerned about you and you keep snapping at me. If you want to be a big bitch about this then fine, but don't put it all out on me." Genesis moved to the door. "I'll see you in three weeks if you're here."

Sephiroth felt shocked at his words and almost let him get away. He rose up and followed after, stopping him before he got to the door. "Well wait, you're not leaving until tomorrow…"

"Yeah?" Genesis responded with irritation.

Sephiroth felt as if he should give up and tell him to forget it, but he didn't want to have Genesis leave in that type of mood. "I…just thought that you'd want to spend more time with me."

Genesis turned back around. He couldn't deny Sephiroth when he said things like that. It was almost…cute how it sounded like he was whining when he merely just noted something. He put his arms carefully around Sephiroth and kissed him passionately, being as gentle as he could. "Okay. I still need to pack but I'll spend some time with you. Let's get you comfortable in bed and we can lie together."

They got into bed and Sephiroth lay on his good side, facing Genesis with his back to the door. He rested his leg across Genesis and draped his arm onto his chest, in a way trapping him in his position. Genesis didn't mind so much, he liked it when Sephiroth was the one grabbing for him. He was always in the mood, he just had to wait for when Sephiroth was in the mood. In all reality, that was hardly ever, so he wasn't going to complain at all about positions or clinginess.

"Feeling any better? Is my body's magic curing your aches and pains?"

"As long as I don't touch it the pain isn't so bad."

It was silent between them for awhile, Genesis kept his eyes on the speckled ceiling above while he listened to Sephiroth breath softly. It was in this moment that Genesis enjoyed Sephiroth the most. To him, it felt like they were really connecting when they didn't do anything at all.

To Sephiroth, he preferred the silence because it meant they weren't fighting. He could hardly tell when Genesis was upset at him, or if he was joking around. In these moments, it was obvious that things were fine and would stay fine as long as neither of them spoke up. Though, the silence never lasted—

"I wonder how they get those speckles on the ceiling," Genesis finally remarked. Sephiroth's green eyes pivoted upward to stare at the clean white ceiling.

"Paint."

"How?"

"It's in a can. It's…some odd type of paint or something that makes it shape like that."

"Huh. How do you know that?"

"I kept thinking about it, too. So I read a book about it."

"About ceiling finishes?"

"Carpentry and furnishing in general."

"Oh." Genesis kept staring at the room and he turned his eyes to stare at Sephiroth's. He loved looking at those catty eyes. They were so alluring. He could get lost in them for hours on end and not once care that he had. "Ever thought of volunteering for making houses?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"How would I approach Lazard on that. 'Hey, today I'm thinking of making houses, I'll see you later.' He'd laugh at me and tell me to go kill someone."

"It's a good deed, you could say that."

"He'd tell me my good deed is to stop people from smashing houses. Other people's deeds are to fix the houses that are smashed thanks to my inability to stop it from happening."

"Okay, because obviously you can stop natural disasters."

"Did you know that a large percent of what we believe are natural disasters happen to be created by humans?"

"How's that possible?"

Sephiroth toyed with the straps of leather on Genesis's front. "Simple. Let's say that you live in a thick forested area. The soils good for planting so you get rid of the trees and start growing crops. Those trees had been there to block powerful winds. Now you have to deal with heavy wind, and when two opposing fronts collide…you get tornadoes. You've created your own tornado, technically."

"I…never thought about it like that." Genesis kept his eyes on Sephiroth, though the man wouldn't always look at him directly back. "You've read a lot of books. I'm surprised you can remember all of it."

"I don't, sometimes I just make stuff up. It's not like anyone else is an expert in the subject. And if they were, I probably wouldn't be talking to them."

Genesis laughed and then kissed Sephiroth, "You're funny."

Sephiroth let himself lean completely into Genesis and kissed him back. They played around with their kisses, one teasing the other by pulling away when it was starting to get good. But when they were finally giving in to each other there was a sharp knock at the door. Sephiroth pulled from the kiss and sat up as best as he could, wincing as the bruise sent a shock through his system. "Who is it?"

"It's your favorite pilot with his bald-headed friend."

Sephiroth got up and waved for Genesis to stand up. He went over to the door and opened it carefully, eyes landing on the redhead and the bald figure. "Reno…Rude. What are you doing here?"

"We're here to take you on your mission," Reno stated coolly.

"What mission? I finished mine earlier today."

The redhead cockily leaned against the doorframe and noticed Genesis listening in the background. His eyes went back to Sephiroth. "You've got another one on your plate. You're coming with us."

"Why didn't Lazard say anything?"

"Because he doesn't know," Rude replied.

"Yeah. Big Daddy Shinra decided to cut him out of the loop on this one, told us to just come get you. You're heading out with the blonde squad in ten minutes."

Sephiroth sighed and closed his door on them. "Give me a few minutes." He turned to grab up his stuff and saw the look on Genesis's face. "What, I can't tell him off."

"I know, but you're really hurt you shouldn't be heading out there."

"You're on vacation, you won't be going either."

"Depending on how long it is I could take your spot…"

"Forget it. He asked for me specifically, I think he wants something."

Genesis watched as Sephiroth picked up what he needed and looked around the room before snatching up the Masamune. He stopped in front of Genesis and grabbed his arm. "It's a good thing you came by when you did."

"Yeah…"

Sephiroth opened the door instead of kissing Genesis. He saw the two were still standing out there. "Okay. I'm ready."

"About time, princess," Reno scolded him, "You know better than to get a quickie in when Shinra wants you."

"Very funny," Sephiroth murmured tiredly. He looked back at Genesis who had slowed down. "Three weeks, right?"

"Yeah. If you're here by then."

"Contact me when you get back. We'll find out."

Sephiroth entered the elevator and lost sight of Genesis once the doors closed. Reno gave a slight chuckle, "I'm surprised you're banging that."

Sephiroth shook his head at Reno's words. "And I can't believe Rude can put up with your mouth. He likes your body, not your voice."

"Funny," Reno snarled back at him before cooling down. "Hey. Seriously. Rumor has it that you and him are banging balls." He saw the glare, "Don't shoot the messenger, I'm just telling you what they say."

"Do you believe everything everyone tells you?" Sephiroth asked as the elevator continued its ascent.

"No…well…yeah, sometimes."

"Then that's why you're an imbecile. If Genesis and I were together, do you really think that he'd be quiet about it?"

Reno shrugged, "Eh…probably not."

"Exactly. He'd tell the entire world he was fucking a prodigy if he was able to."

"So it's all bull. That sucks, I was really hoping you were into him. Might give the world a heart attack. Wutai would feel like shit being bashed by an invincible gay guy." He noticed neither Sephiroth nor Rude laughed. "Okay, be stiffs. Jeez."

"I'm just a friend of Genesis's. You redheads are all the same. You're funny once in awhile, and the rest of the time you're annoying as hell."

Rude nodded, "You can say that again."

Reno snorted, "Shut up, cue ball."

Sephiroth stepped out of the elevator and glanced at the two, "What is this mission about anyway?"

"Shinra is taking all of the fat cats and their families to a monstrous banquet or something and he wants you to play body guard. Although, he hired a crap ton of us Turks to hold the building under a safe eye so I think he really just wants to brag you up."

All of their families? What was he, an animal in a petting zoo? "I don't see why I'm needed."

"He thinks you're like family, perhaps? I'm sure he's got a reason and he'll tell you. Now enough with the sourpuss face and hop in the 'copter."

Sephiroth got on the helicopter and looked longingly at the building he was leaving, knowing that inside Genesis was gloomily packing away for his own trip. If only things didn't have to be private…

But those were unattainable dreams.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

Genesis got on the airship with Angeal early the next morning and had decided to skip out on breakfast, his body yearned to go back to sleep. He wanted to send Sephiroth a text asking how his mission was going, but he knew that Sephiroth hardly ever answered unless he was alone, and he could only guess that Sephiroth was far too focused on his mission to care about anything else.

"I hope you're not going to be moping the entire time we're home."

Genesis turned his eyes to Angeal and he smiled at the husky voice reprimanding him for his behavior. "I won't. I'm just exhausted. I can't wait to see my mother, though. I wonder if she looks any different?"

"Probably not. Your mom never ages. I'd be more worried about if they have any girlfriends waiting for you."

"You're right. Do you think it'd be wrong if I told them I'm in a relationship?"

"Depends on if you finish the sentence with a certain SOLDIER's name…"

"I wouldn't do that. They'd laugh. I'm not sure if I'd disclose that it was with a male anyway."

"Give your dad a heart attack, that's for sure. He'd probably think all the fruits you've harvested finally got to you in the wrong way."

"Har har," Genesis mocked a laugh. "You're sooo funny."

"Well, what do you want them to do? Ask to see your future bride? Or have them shut up for good once you say you're boning something that can't produce children? You'd stop getting harassed about grandkids at least."

"I think I want to have actual sex with him before I come out and claim him as mine."

"Why would that make a difference?" Angeal questioned him.

"Because he clearly doesn't want to do it unless he knows it's going to last forever, right? So if we have sex, that means I'm set for life. It'd make sense to claim him then. But until then I don't want to say I'm stuck with what I have if he dumps me. Or I dump him, for some reason. People pity you if that happens because they think you got in over your head and scared your partner off. And I don't want pity. I'd just be upset and then I'd find someone else."

Angeal didn't know what he thought of that. Genesis's logic always made his head hurt. "So…when do you think he'll splay out for you?"

"Hopefully when I get back from home. I'm thinking he'll miss me a lot, and if I pull the right strings he'll give in."

"What if he doesn't?"

"I don't know. I'm still thinking about that one."

"You wouldn't break up with him over something like that, would you?"

"I…don't know. I think it depends on the reasons why he won't."

"Well…it just makes it seem like you're trying to get in his pants and you've finally had enough of pursuing."

"True. I don't want to seem like it's all I'm in it for. I'd have to wait and give it time…"

Angeal sighed. "If anything goes bad please don't make me a part of it."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm not choosing sides, that's all I'm saying."

"Oh, if we broke up? You're my friend, though, why would you choose his side anyway?"

"He's a decent person. I wouldn't isolate him just because you didn't get a taste of his dick."

"But you would still clearly be around me more than him."

"See? You're already making me choose sides and it hasn't even happened."

"I'm just pointing out that you and I have been best friends since we were born. It'd be like betraying our friendship and everything we ever did together if you went off with him because you pity him."

"I wouldn't call it pity…"

"Pity. I know it'd be pity because I know you too well."

"Well whatever. I wouldn't want to make him feel completely betrayed just because of you."

Genesis sighed and relaxed into his seat. "This is just hypothetical, anyway. Besides, what if we just break up and are still friends afterwards?"

"The word 'friend' to you when it links to Sephiroth goes straight to 'fuck buddy.'"

"Hey. If our hips collided we'd rock the entire world."

"Maybe that's why he avoids it. He's afraid of giving everyone shaking baby syndrome."

"Shut up."

Angeal stretched and laughed. "All right. Nap time."

Genesis glanced out the window before settling into his seat as well and closed his eyes, dreaming about Sephiroth…

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Sephiroth's time at the banquet had been far from pleasant. The entire thing made him feel uncomfortably out of place amongst all of the high-ranking men and their wives and kids. He was pushed into this large ballroom area with a long table that donned gloriously dressed people that ate like they could have plenty in the world and waste all they wanted. Seeing the food made Sephiroth hungry, but it also made him sick. These were families sitting together, chatting away with other families, giving funny stories and cherishing what they had. He didn't fit in at all.

Sephiroth's duty wasn't to be the President's second son. He was a guard. That was all he was. The President merely told him to roam around and keep an eye out for anything suspicious. He wasn't offered a seat at any table, nor told to find one, and he wasn't given any food, nor asked if he was hungry.

The worst part was that Sephiroth had to fake that he was perfectly find with this entire ensemble. The very sight of everyone enjoying the things he didn't have made him feel ill, just like he had when he was a child. Knowing that he'd never have something like this…always hurt.

The more his heart hurt the more his side gave him troubles. He had to fake that he was fine there as well. At times it was unbearable to stand around and pretend he was searching for the enemy when he knew damn well that all of these bastards were fine. He could have been spending precious time with Genesis. Though he didn't like to admit it, Genesis did seem to be a great comfort to him. He could tell at times that Genesis was tired or annoyed with him, and he could understand why, but so far it seemed that Genesis hadn't refused to help him feel better. Though, today he thought for certain that Genesis was going to walk out on him. Now look…he was stuck here instead wishing he could jump ahead three weeks to see Genesis.

What if he was being too clingy? He never thought he'd enjoy someone's presence so much. But he did…

Maybe because…Genesis was like his only family? He was the one person he could love unconditionally, as the people in here were with their spouses and offspring…

The hours kept going by and the eating had ended for awhile, resuming to dancing and other games. Sephiroth had been standing the entire time and his side was starting to cause him unfathomable agony. His eyes looked around for Shinra but couldn't see the fat cat anywhere. Luckily he spotted Rufus, but unfortunately he was surrounded by others of his age. Sephiroth didn't want to risk talking to him, so he merely passed by as he looked around the building.

The banquet was far from over. There was another meal later that day and by now Sephiroth was not only starving, but he was physically weakened by the intensity of his discomfort. He couldn't help it any longer and he moved from the banquet room to 'check' on other sections of the building. He stopped out near a corner area where he believed he wouldn't be bothered aside from two Turks standing there and he undid the straps on his coat to see how bad it was. The bruising had moved up his side, and the armor had made the bruise a darker, nastier color. One Turk's eyes widened at the look of the bruise. "Are you okay?"

Sephiroth looked over at him as if he hadn't seen the man there. "I won't die, but I wouldn't say I'm fine."

"What happened?" The other had asked, eyes shifting around to make sure no one knew they were talking.

"Mission went awry this morning." No chocobos in the story he was going to tell them! He didn't want to be a laughing stock.

"Your rib cartilage must be broken if it's that bad."

"At least you didn't puncture a lung, right?"

Sephiroth shook his head, "I don't know, I never got it checked out. I was told to come here, and for what?" The two gave nervous smiles. "Do either of you know how to check and see if it is broken?"

One of them stepped forward, "I can, I usually work in medical." He had pushed the coat out of the way and settled his hand on Sephiroth's side, sliding it against the ribs and over the bruised area. "Hmm. You did something all right. It's bent oddly right here." He gave a slight push and made Sephiroth gasp in pain. "Sorry. I think you should get it checked out. Not like you'll be able to do anything besides rest until it heals."

Sephiroth started to redo the buckles of his coat, grumbling to himself how stupid his injury was when he heard his name echo from the hallway. He looked down only to see Rufus standing there with a smile on his face. "Sephiroth, what are you doing down there?"

"Making sure nothing suspicious is going on. Why aren't you inside?"

"I came to get you. My father wants you back in here."

Sephiroth started to head back in and he ignored the pain. It was easy to do when he had to focus on Rufus, the most annoying person of his childhood. "What am I needed for?"

"You'll see. You know my father…he loves to impress people."

Sephiroth didn't understand what that meant. What did the fat cat have planned now? Sephiroth settled back to roaming the room like a hungry lion waiting for its prey to appear. The dancing and drinking went onward as another hour passed, Sephiroth grew even more restless and impatient. There was another meal and a speech now, though Sephiroth didn't pay attention to it. Something about keeping family close, morals, the dignity of raising children…

It was all the things that Sephiroth didn't want to hear.

It wasn't until the President was finishing his speech that Sephiroth heard something odd. His eyes zoomed around the room, the catty pupils picking up all the motions people were doing, the objects in there, looking for the odd thing that had caught his attention. He heard it again, though the crowd was clapping so much he lost it for a minute. Where?

His eyes shot up, but it was too late. The glass above had been destroyed and men were coming down by the dozen. Sephiroth quickly reacted by blasting magic toward the ropes, sending most of them falling to the ground. As women and children screamed and scattered away, Sephiroth leapt over them and sent himself in the middle of the fray. His Masamune sliced the men down so quickly they had no chance of surviving. Their blood soaked the marble floor and pooled itself beneath his feet, but the aroma didn't bother him as the metallic hint came to his nose. It was rejuvenating. The entire place went silent as Sephiroth looked around for more, but the Turks that entered gave good news that the rest had been captured.

The group clapped at Sephiroth's display and it finally clicked. The President must have staged the entire thing. He hoped that he didn't kill anyone he wasn't supposed to…

The President waved for someone to take care of the bodies and he went back to the microphone. "Well, that was quite a doozy. But we have Sephiroth here to thank for protecting our lives, as he does for the rest of the Planet's civilians." More applause ruptured the ballroom and Sephiroth wasn't sure how to receive it all. "Come here, don't be shy." The crowd chuckled slightly as Sephiroth walked over to him. "This boy came into my life with quite a surprise. Most of us think 'it's not normal to have an entire company adopt a child.' Well of course it isn't! But you know, Sephiroth is far from normal. This handsome lad is unique, and that is what SOLDIER is all about. We intend to find more men that have great talents like Sephiroth, and help us keep the Planet safe!" Another round of applause came. The President looked at Sephiroth and gave him a cheery smile, "How's about a few words?"

"I don't know what to say," Sephiroth murmured.

"Just bullshit, it's what we're good at."

Sephiroth watched as the President grandly displayed for him to take the stage and he moved forward, the pain was now gone as his heart pounded heavily. All eyes were on him, and his cat-like instincts picked up on their breathing patterns, their glazed looks, the heated hunger from some women, the strong pride of the men, the fascination of the little girls and boys. His eyes picked up on it all, and he felt all of their emotions against him. He felt suffocated. He knew he didn't stand there long in silence, but in his mind it was eternity before he spoke. "The President is quite flattering, but I wouldn't say I'm as unique as he puts it. My background might be dazzling, but I am like everyone else. That only means that everyone amongst us can be a good fighter, can excel to their goals, and can help protect our Planet." His eyes went to the President and he nodded for him to say a bit more. A wave of nausea hit him, but he continued. "When I first started to train to get into SOLDIER, my only goal was to protect the thing that I lacked most. Family. I didn't want to see anymore kids on the streets or hear about the deaths of parents. But when I was a 2nd class SOLDIER, I realized I based my goal on a lie. I had told myself I didn't have family, but that's not true. I had the entire company. I had operatives that knew me for a long time, and some that might not have known me at all, but we were a group of individuals all fighting for the same thing. They are my family. And because of that, I not only strive to protect the families out there, but also the one that I see when I return from my missions." He hesitated for a minute before looking out all over them. "And that is what makes us different. Because as a group of the elite, we excel in making sure we protect each other more than protecting one's self. It is because of this that we are successful in what we do. And that's how we will continue to work, so that the family of these operatives will never have to doubt that their child might die in battle." Sephiroth looked back at the President. "It all comes back to our wonderful President Shinra. It's due to his support and agreeable attitude that SOLDIER is existing today."

The group finally clapped as Sephiroth was done and the President stepped back up, grabbing onto Sephiroth as if they were posing for a picture before the groups of fancily dressed people. "He's quite the charmer when he starts speaking!"

Though, Sephiroth hadn't minded the gesture, the pain shot through his side when Shinra had grabbed onto him. There was more clapping and it drowned out Sephiroth's senses, his attention mostly settling on his agony and the emptiness in his stomach. He felt like he was going to be sick with how intense the feelings were getting. The President had patted his back triumphantly. "Come along, boy. The party's ending. We'll get you home, you look tired, or homesick, one of the two."

"It's nothing," Sephiroth responded.

He was moved out of the room and back on his helicopter. It was very dark out, though Sephiroth couldn't tell what time it was. He didn't really care, he had no reason to rush home besides to sleep and eat. His fingers deftly pulled out his cell phone and he quickly sent Genesis a text, the man had been on his mind the entire night. _"I just wanted to let you know that I miss you. I'm going to take your advice and rest until I'm better. Call me if you ever get a break."_

He sent it and put his phone away, watching as Reno and Rude finally got into the helicopter to take off. He remembered the nights that he was fine with being utterly alone. But now? It felt like the world wasn't as glorious as it was when he didn't have Genesis with him. And now…all he could think about was if Genesis thought the same way…

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"Oh crap," Genesis mumbled as he checked his phone. He was standing beside Angeal and he got an odd look from his companion. "My phone died. Did you bring your charger?"

"Yes. When we get into town I'll give it to you."

"Thanks."

They began walking toward home, carrying their bags with ease up the hills and on zigzagging paths. Angeal's house was the closest, so once he got in and they chatted with his mother, Angeal dug through his bags and handed it over to Genesis. "Try not to break it."

"I won't." As if Genesis smashed his electronics on rocks all the time or something… Made him sound like he was irresponsible. "I'm heading over to my folks. Try to be nice to your mother!"

His mom laughed as she stood up and kissed Genesis on the cheek, "You be good, Genesis! And say hello to your parents for me."

"I will."

Genesis went home and found his mom waiting for him, her eyes filled with tears as she grabbed his face and kissed his cheeks, making millions of comments on if he was eating well, how strong he was, how handsome he had become, how she missed him so much. "Calm down, we have three weeks to catch up. Don't wear yourself out so soon."

"Oh Genesis, you know how I am. Drop your stuff off in your room and come sit with me in the living room."

"Okay, mom."

Genesis went upstairs and put his stuff down, plugging his phone into the charger, then he went down and sat with his mom. "So…where's dad?"

"Oh you know how he is, honey. Out doing work until dinner. He keeps himself busy."

Genesis knew that his bond with his father was rather distant. They didn't talk much and his dad wasn't interested in a lot of things he did. He was too far into politics and getting the harvest done to think about what Genesis was doing with his life. "That's good."

"I'll be making your favorite for dinner tonight and you know, would you find it rude if I called over your old girlfriend? I think she misses you. And you haven't told me if you've met any girls in that big city place. Why, I don't see how they could be as good looking as the girl you've got here. I wish you'd stay home and settle down."

"I'm doing what I like. And who's to say that I don't have a girlfriend back in Midgar?"

His mom's eyes opened wide, "Do you? Is she pretty? Can I meet her? Is she safe? Some city girls carry some awful things, Genesis. Maybe I should get you some—"

"Mom. Please. I was just saying…" He shrugged, not sure if he should tell her the news or not. "Go ahead and invite her over. We can talk later about this."

Genesis's mother knew exactly what that meant. They were going to have a discussion later, something serious, she wasn't sure if she liked the mystery of his words or not but she respected his boundaries. She got up and went to go make food, and Genesis decided to help her, though they didn't say much about the subject they had started. They instead had small talk about what had been going on with both sides of their lives.

When supper was ready and set out, Genesis was glad to see his ex coming through the door. She had her usual dark tan and blonde hair that went so well with her blue eyes, but he had also noticed that her stomach was a bit larger than he last remembered. He assumed it was nothing, that weight gain just happened to some people as they got older.

The conversation at the table was quite interesting, though his father, once he had got home, didn't say much to Genesis. He had expected as much. "I work with Sephiroth a lot. He's helping me train for 1st class." He decided to finally namedrop Sephiroth because he knew they were all dying to hear about him. Genesis noticed his father had perked slightly at the words.

"Oh really?" The man finally remarked. He was somewhat good looking, though Genesis and he looked like complete opposites. His father was rugged but clean cut. Genesis had more feminine features about him. "You saved his life, didn't you?"

"Oh, when I took that bullet for him. It was just instinct that took over. Losing Sephiroth would mean losing the war."

His ex, Gina, gave a slight smile. "Oh, that's so heroic that you'd do such a thing. I couldn't believe it was you on TV when they showed it."

"I wasn't expecting to be on air at all…but the media is pretty sneaky."

His mother gave a slight simper before she grabbed Genesis's hand, "I'm so glad you're okay. When Angeal called I thought I was going to lose my precious baby."

"Gee, thanks," Genesis replied sarcastically.

"Oh, but I knew you were stronger than that! You get it from your father," she remarked and pinched his cheek.

His dad grunted and Genesis could tell that he obviously disagreed with the entire notion, but was too hungry to speak up about it. He felt somewhat put down by the fact that his father had no interest in him. Why was that?

He quickly turned his attention away and looked at Gina. "So, when I get into 1st class perhaps Banora will get more tourists?"

She giggled, "Maybe. Think of all the apple sales."

"Yeah, that'd be nice to increase sales."

His father shook his head a bit, "Less tourism the better. All they do is tromp all over where they shouldn't be and cause problems. And if we get too many Banora whites, this place will just be a giant tree farm. The prices will drop and people will be trying to enhance their trees for better production, losing the quality completely. It's best that your fame doesn't take over your hometown."

Genesis felt so irritated. _Why is he acting like this?_ "You're right." He didn't want to argue in front of Gina. When he had finished he decided to take her for a walk and his mother had winked at him. He knew exactly what she was thinking. _She thinks I'm going to get laid now. Moms are so weird. Should I even tell her about my relationship?_ "So…Gina. What have you been doing while I've been gone?"

She gave a small sigh and her eyes went up to his. He could tell she was worried. "Genesis, I got a new boyfriend when you were gone. But you see…something happened and he up and left me."

"Why did he do that?"

She stopped and tried to think of a good way to tell him. "I'm pregnant with his kid. He didn't want to deal with it so…he left."

Genesis was shocked. Boy had he missed the mark on why she got bigger. "Oh. What are you going to do about that?"

"I'm not sure. I can't afford to raise a kid, but I wouldn't dare get an abortion. I think giving it up for adoption will be perfect, you know? At least someone will be able to take care of it."

"Oh yeah, that's at least giving the child a chance. And you could visit the family if you want…"

"Yeah…"

They stopped out near a secluded grassy spot and took a seat on the ground, eyes staring up at the starry night above them. She had leaned into him and Genesis accepted the closeness of her body, and soon found himself putting his arm around her. _I have to ask myself…am I prepared to be committed to Sephiroth? He may never have sex with me…ever. He might not like me as much as I like him. What if our relationship is out of convenience more than anything else?_ He could smell her sweet perfume and he gently took his other hand and moved some hair out of her face. Those blue eyes stared into his, and he could see the reflection of the stars dazzling in them, calling to him. _Am I committed to staying with him…? What if I don't actually like him as much as I assumed I did? What if he's not the one?_ For awhile there he didn't move as they stayed in that position, their eyes glued to each other. _She's already knocked up. I haven't had any in awhile…and besides. What if I actually do like girls? This could tell me everything I need to know. This could help me decide if Sephiroth is right for me…or if I've been wrong all along._ He kissed her and they fell back against the grass, gently pulling at their clothes….

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The next day Genesis was rudely awakened by Angeal who had came into his room and shook him awake. He didn't understand what he had said and he muttered for him to repeat it.

"I said Sephiroth was on TV."

"What? Oh. Why?"

"Giving motivational speeches I suppose. It was pretty decent. He seemed to touch on some personal matters. I'm sure you'll see it later on."

Genesis nodded as he got up, the thoughts of last night finally coming to. He forgot how much he liked having sex. He forgot how nice a woman's body was, too. Slowly he moved toward his phone and turned it on. "Here." He handed back Angeal's charger. "I had quite a night last night. What did you do?"

"Just helped mom around the house. Yourself?"

Genesis's phone beeped and he looked at his messages. "Mom invited Gina over."

"Your ex?"

"Yeah. She's pregnant. Not showing too much, though. But uh…you know. We went out for a walk…"

Angeal held up his hand, "Hold on. You had sex with her, didn't you?"

"Well yeah, I did. What? Don't give me that look. I've just been…thinking about Sephiroth and me a lot and…you know, I'm just not sure about us."

"You told me you were prepared to commit yourself to him if he had sex with you. So you got your dick in a few girls first before you're going to talk to him?"

"One girl. An ex. And I just had to see if I knew what I was doing. I can't tell if I'm just with Sephiroth because there aren't girls around or what."

Angeal snorted, "I think you just pulled the biggest mistake of your life."

"Oh come on. I just had to know…"

"Well what did you come up with? Is Sephiroth just an easy access or does he mean something to you?"

Genesis thought it over and he didn't know what to say. "It's…nice not having to hide. It's…great that I could be with someone and not have to fake I don't have interest in them…."

Angeal shook his head but decided it wasn't his problem. "Have fun talking to Sephiroth, I'm not going to get into this ordeal."

Genesis sighed. "You won't even support my decision?" Angeal said nothing. "Oh come on, Angeal. I can't keep my life a secret forever. Do you know how hard it is to have to plan things out ahead of time, to make sure everything is under lock and key? It's stressful. I think I want something…normal."

"You didn't figure that out until a year of it happening? You seemed perfectly fine with it all."

"Yeah I guess. I don't know. I'm just confused about what I want."

"Yeah, obviously. Why not let Sephiroth make the decisions instead?"

"What do you mean?"

Angeal crossed his arms over his chest. "It's simple. You tell him what you've done and you let him decide if he wants to keep you."

Genesis sighed and finally got to look at his message that he got. Sephiroth. He read it over and felt the turmoil already kicking in. _Things just aren't easy, are they?_ "He misses me." He looked at the time. Yesterday morning. He was out late, obviously. Perhaps couldn't get any sleep. "What if he says he wants to keep me…but I don't feel the same?"

"I'm done counseling you. Take a hold of your own life." Angeal left the room and Genesis was by himself, the message still open on his phone. The silence took over him and Genesis finally sat down, taking all of it in.

_It's the Hero's turn to make the call…whether this love is what he wants, or if he can get rid of the extra baggage. I'm torn in two. And I really hope…what he chooses…is the best for both of us._

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Dun Dun DUUUUN. Drama to ensue! Hope you guys liked this one, as rocky and emotional as it is.

I'd like to note that I didn't want to do much with Genesis's personal life, especially with Gina, because I hate OC's coming into plotlines. I don't know what you guys think about those things. But yeah, that's why I just sort of…didn't put detail on their sex scene.

I'd also like to tell you guys that I will be gone-ish for a week and a half without a computer, because I'm going to a convention and visiting friends. So hopefully you can survive with a longer break from updates (so cruel of me, I know).

So. Please review and try not to hurt yourself while waiting for the next update!


	12. Chapter 12

This is the last chapter (surprise!) so please enjoy! If you're interested, please read my ending comments as well (helpful insight/my dumb explanations on why this fic is the way it is).

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_It's been a full week back at Banora and I haven't called Sephiroth yet. He said call when I had a break, and I've been busy with the harvest…but now that I have some time to myself, I'm almost scared to call. I'm afraid to say the wrong thing. I want to wait…wait and tell him face-to-face. I think he'd appreciate that more. I think, I'm not sure, Sephiroth's hard to figure out. I've done a lot of thinking, and I really do want to keep us together. Yes, I do love women, but Sephiroth's something different. He's always been kind to me…at least he has always tried. And even without the sex, I'm still really attracted to him. It's like the more we put it off the harder I get for him. I just…feel like sometimes we drift too much. But even then, I've always liked him._

_I've fucked up so badly. I hope he can forgive me…_

Genesis pulled out his cell phone and called Sephiroth. He heard the grumbled 'hello?' come through and he wondered if Sephiroth had been sleeping this entire time. "Sephiroth, it's me. You said to call when I wasn't busy."

Sephiroth rubbed his eyes and checked his clock. It was around noon, but he hadn't gotten out of bed today. "How are you?"

"Good. Mom's bonkers as usual, dad's quiet, Angeal and I have been working out in the fields all day. A lot of good apples to pick, probably best year I've seen in awhile. Though, it would have been nice to bring you here."

Sephiroth smiled at that. "If only I could have. I'm sure it would have been better than what I've been doing."

"Tell me about your week."

"The mission was to attend a banquet and roam around doing nothing until Wutai warriors dropped in from the ceiling. It was staged. The men were real, but I suppose it was purposefully set up through the President to give everyone something to talk about. I asked for a brief break, though. I went to the doctors because you told me to, and it seems I broke something. So I've been sleeping ever since."

"I hope you didn't strain yourself during the banquet."

"I didn't. They just fell in and I killed them rather quickly."

"At least it wasn't anything dangerous. I'm glad to hear you're resting, at least. Sometimes you go overboard when you shouldn't."

Sephiroth chuckled, "I get bored when I'm not doing anything."

"Well, you clearly have me, that means we could do something."

"Only when you're around, which is unpredictable. I think Lazard wants you to work overtime."

"Well, he does know I'm trying to get into 1st class. Maybe he's just helping me out?"

"If you get into 1st class our schedules will probably sync up better."

"Really?"

"Yes, that's usually how missions are scheduled. By class."

"Hmm…just thinking about it has me rising."

Sephiroth laughed lightly at his words. "I hope you're not going to jack off while you're talking to me."

"It kind of sounds like a good idea, but I'm outside. It'd be a little bit awkward to jizz on nature."

"I don't know, you seem like the type who is capable of doing anything for a first time."

"Mmm…" Genesis looked around at the cliffs and trees before he smiled. "Speaking of first times…I've been thinking about us quite a lot lately. You know, we've been dating for a full year."

"It seems we have."

"And you know I've been very patient with you. And you know I wouldn't pull anything without knowing you were comfortable with it…"

Sephiroth had a feeling he already knew where this was going.

"I'm really committed to you, Sephiroth. I think I want to be with you until there's nothing left of us. You're all I have ever wanted or needed."

Sephiroth smiled at that. He felt a bit embarrassed, but he didn't interrupt Genesis.

"I want to know if you're ready. If you're…prepared to be completely committed to me and only me." Genesis paused. "Because when I get back I think you and I should spend some time together without any interruptions."

Sephiroth knew he was talking about sex. He might not have said it, but the way he talked was filled with the sultry longing for love. The thought of it sent chills down Sephiroth's spine. "Well…when you get back can we talk first? You know how I am. I'd rather hear this in person so I can make a better decision."

"Of course. If you really aren't ready I won't push you to it."

"I think I just need some convincing. Not that I don't trust you, but the act itself has always seemed like an extreme to me."

"We can start soft and then get into the rough kinky stuff."

"Soft, hmm?" Sephiroth remarked. He was curious to hear what Genesis meant by that.

"Yeah. I'll start by gently pulling down your pants, kissing your abdomen as I make my descent onto your throbbing manhood. When I feel like your body is relaxed enough, I'll give it sweet kisses, along with the soft spots of your inner thighs. And once you start to rise I'll drag my tongue slowly, gently up your shaft, stopping before I hit the tip, and go back down so I can hear your heated moans of pleasure…"

Sephiroth for some reason thought that sounded…pleasuring and funny at the same time. "I think I might like that."

"Oh you will. I'll butter you up so that you're begging for me to take your virginity away."

Sephiroth loved that thought. Was that even possible for him? He'd find out he supposed. "Then it's a date."

"Oh yes. Definitely." Genesis looked at the sun and then over at the fields. "I should get going. I'll call again if I find time. If not, then I'll just come home and get started on those pants of yours."

Sephiroth chuckled, "All right, Genesis. I'll see you later."

Genesis hung up and sighed when he heard someone near him. He looked and saw Angeal standing there staring at him. "What?"

"You'll drag your tongue slowly, gently up his shaft?"

Genesis turned bright red, "Dude. You eavesdropped?"

"Well you're not exactly quiet."

"That was a private conversation!"

"Whatever, you were bound to tell me anyway."

"Fuck you."

Angeal couldn't help but laugh. "Look at you, getting all flustered. I'm assuming you didn't tell him that you're a moron and started waving your dick around for the girls to come after."

"No, I'm going to tell him when I get back home because that's personal and it's something he deserves to hear in person." Genesis rose and brushed his hair out of his face. "I wish you'd stop making me sound like a bad person. I already know what I did was wrong…"

"Then why make him think you're going to have sex with him? He's going to dump you once you tell him what you did."

Genesis shrugged, "I don't know. I just can't bring myself to act differently…I don't want to worry him."

Angeal rolled his eyes, "Well...whatever. You keep leading him on, it won't change anything."

Genesis sighed, "Yeah. I know. You don't need to remind me."

His friend turned from him and started to head back down the hilly area. For a moment there Genesis couldn't tell if Angeal was completely turning his back on him…or if he was just imagining it.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

By the time Genesis and Angeal left Banora and began their returning trip to Midgar, Sephiroth was feeling much better. He had healed dramatically, but he had made sure to prolong his time off. As the days had counted down he felt more and more agitated about the night he'd spend with Genesis. He wasn't sure if he was ready for such commitment, for such a lustful and loving act. For Sephiroth it was…something scary. He didn't want to throw himself about to anyone or anything, he wanted to reserve himself to one person. In fact, he had never thought he'd have sex…ever. He was always far busier with more important things…

But now that Genesis was in his life…it was probable.

The anxiety and anticipation kept building up until it was merely hours until Genesis would be home. He was obsessively pacing in his room, brushing through his hair nervously as he kept looking into the mirror. He wasn't exactly sure what Genesis was completely expecting from him.

When he heard the knock on his door his heart started to hammer in his chest. He had never felt like this before in his life… Did that mean he was completely and positively serious about being with Genesis? He wouldn't feel this sensation if he wasn't. This was…love, right?

Sephiroth didn't open the door, Genesis had gotten it himself. When the redhead slipped in Sephiroth could feel the room already fill with the soft scent of the apples, the perfume of Genesis's skin…

He knew he had to talk first, but seeing him after all this time had caused his emotions to skyrocket. "Genesis…"

Genesis looked at Sephiroth before giving a weak smile, "Sephiroth." He hesitated, absolutely terrified of Sephiroth's judgment. He knew this was the end. It didn't matter what he had to say, Sephiroth had the final say…. "Well. Let's…talk before we do anything."

"Okay…" Sephiroth replied. He sat down on his bed and watched as Genesis sat beside him. Was he supposed to ask questions? Go first? Or would Genesis do all the talking? He felt so helpless…

Genesis merely had to think things through and how to word it all without making Sephiroth too upset. He knew that no matter what he said the ending result was going to be the same, but there was a way to make it a lot less painful for Sephiroth… "Okay. Um. Look, I have something really important to tell you that…I've wanted to tell you for a long time. I wanted to wait until we were in the same room though before I said anything."

Sephiroth was confused. Were…they still talking about the same thing? He thought Genesis was here to convince him about having sex…

"Sephiroth, I love you. There is…nothing else in this world that would make me happier. Being with you is…is everything I could ever want. I hope you understand that."

"I…understand," Sephiroth responded somewhat embarrassed.

"I love you so much that…I respect any decision you make. Whether you hate me or disrespect me…I would not fight your emotions toward me because I could never think poorly against you." Genesis took in a deep breath. "So…what I'm going to tell you, it…it's going to upset you. You're…going to make a decision and I'll respect it and I won't fight you on it because I don't deserve to fight against what you have to say."

The confusion settled back in. "I…I don't understand. What are you saying?"

"Look…it's…complicated. You and I sometimes fight and drift apart. When we're far away I doubt what we are. But when we're together I notice I'm just acting stupid. But…" He hesitated. "But when I went to Banora something happened."

"…." Sephiroth started to feel the high emotion start to plummet. He was growing anxious, curious about what Genesis was about to reveal, but also fearing it, too.

"Sephiroth, I couldn't tell if I was prepared to be with you and only you. I thought that I was being desperate because I'm stuck here in Midgar. I doubted the two of us for awhile…I thought that…that I was just acting impulsively. I believed that maybe I wasn't in love with you. I…thought that I was pulling you into a false relationship. But I couldn't tell, I was confused about it all. I convinced myself that there was only one way to tell for certain. I acted irrationally…I'm a complete moron in doing this…" Genesis sighed and finally said it, "Sephiroth, I cheated on you when I was in Banora. I slept with an ex-girlfriend because I wasn't sure if I really liked you or if I was just confusing what I really wanted." He started to rush the subject. "But afterward I started to regret it. I had everything with you and I threw it away. I should have talked to Angeal, or you, or…just…anyone but I didn't. We're so secretive about ourselves that I thought I should solve it myself, and then I ended up doing the wrong thing…"

Sephiroth looked completely torn at the news. Genesis had gone and fucked some girl back home? "I'm not sure what to think of you right now…."

"I…understand. I don't deserve to have you as a partner. I'm…such a traitor toward you. And I feel so much regret. I don't understand why I doubted us. I…I don't understand why I did it at all." Genesis sighed. "I know saying that I'm sorry won't mean a thing…but I really am. I've wasted a year of your life…you deserve someone much better. I just…I just wish I wasn't…"

Sephiroth held up his hand, "Just stop."

Genesis waited as the silence fell over them. He didn't know what else to say. Well…what could he say that would make it any better? He rose from his spot as Sephiroth still hadn't said anything else. "I'm…sorry. I'll leave you alone from now on. And…hopefully over time things can fix themselves…"

Sephiroth grabbed Genesis's arm and got up himself, facing the redhead. "Where are you going?" Their eyes met, Genesis was the first to look away. "You said…you loved me. You said that you would respect my decision, but you haven't even bothered to hear what I have to say yet."

"I…well…you're going to dump me…."

Sephiroth shook his head. "No." He hesitated and then grabbed onto Genesis's shoulders. "I'm angry at you, yes, but I know the feeling you experienced…the confusion. Perhaps you reacted like an imbecile because of it…but I'm not going to let you just walk away like that. Genesis…I…love you, too. I wish you could have seen that before you acted so ridiculously…"

Genesis didn't get it. Was…Sephiroth still keeping him?

"I didn't want to spend today like this. Tell me…about her."

"What…do you want to know?"

"Why her?"

"She…was my ex. She had a bad run with a previous boyfriend. She's…pregnant with his kid, and he ran off on her."

"And…when you were with her?"

"What…about it?"

"Did…you like it?"

Genesis wasn't sure if he should be truthful or not. "She…she was nice. But you know, it was just like sleeping with Rufus or Lazard. It's just sex…there was no connection. It's not like what I have with you. I don't even need to be intimate with you to feel something strong. I…just wished I had realized it earlier, but…I'm just a fool."

"Did you…use protection or anything?"

"Well…no because she was pregnant. It didn't really come to mind."

Sephiroth sighed and he looked away from Genesis. He was confused about how he should handle this. One side of him wanted to tell Genesis to get lost and to forget they were ever together…but the other side was so hurt and so pained because he was in love with him. He wanted to have a faithful partner. Would Genesis be faithful to him now? It was the first time in a whole year….it was an accidental slip-up. He didn't want to forgive him, and he didn't have to, but he just needed to know if staying with him was the right thing to do.

Parting would…be so hurtful. But would staying with him be detrimental? Would they ever be the same way?

Sephiroth looked into Genesis's eyes for a long time, searching for the answer in those blue eyes. He saw the pain, the regret, the worry, the sadness…

"I really don't appreciate how you could throw us away like that so easily. Maybe it's hard to stay a secret from everyone, especially for so long…but the feelings we shared should mean a lot more than the pain we have to go through. If you're committed to me…I want you to show it. I want to know…if you're really committed…" He pulled him closer to him. "I want to be with you, but if we're together you can't be with anyone else…from this point on. Because if you falter again then it's over for good…and I don't mean just the relationship. Everything will be gone. Do you understand that?"

Genesis nodded his head. "I do."

Sephiroth kept watching those eyes. They seemed truthful to him, he could see that Genesis meant to stay with him….

He leaned in and kissed him then, allowing his hands to gently glide through Genesis's hair, against his neck, and soon to pull on the boy's clothes. This feeling was strong and wild, he felt heated and hungry for the action that he had never experienced before. He roughly ripped at the belts of Genesis's pants, slipping his trousers downward to get them out of his way.

Genesis merely accepted the advances. He couldn't believe that after all the this time of believing he was done for with Sephiroth…that he would be instead having the greatest intimate act with him.

They both had their clothes dropped and made their way into bed, Sephiroth dominated Genesis roughly as he pinned him down and gave him several harsh kisses. Their hips ground together and at first they couldn't control themselves at all. Genesis couldn't help his initial reaction to wrap his legs tightly onto Sephiroth's hips, yearning for the feeling of Sephiroth's cock in him. Yet, Sephiroth pushed away the muscular thighs and reached over to his nightstand. He reached into the drawer and fished out a condom which made Genesis calm down.

"Why—"

"You fucked a whore, Genesis, why do you think?"

Genesis didn't argue at that. He really doubted there was anything wrong with her, but if it made Sephiroth feel better he'd let him do what he wanted. Besides, bringing her up while trying to have sex would be really awkward…

"Get on your stomach," Sephiroth ordered.

Genesis obeyed and he felt Sephiroth press against his back, his silvery hair cascaded around him and showered him with soft scents. Sephiroth didn't take his time at all, his emotions were guiding him to enter as soon as possible. The redhead hadn't expected the quick entry, so he let out a surprised yell that made his hands clench the sheets. The feeling was so familiar for Genesis, and for an instant he thought back on his mission with his friends, how he was handled so harshly with the base leader. Yet, that very thought was pushed from his mind. This was far different, far more sensual and caring. Sephiroth's touch was like a soft caress against his body, and that was what made his roughness more appealing. After the initial shock of raw pain, he started to feel the euphoria kick in. Genesis let out several heated gasps as he tried to catch his breath with the rhythm of Sephiroth's thrusts. Yet he was having difficulty doing so because Sephiroth began to kiss the crook of his neck, gently biting into his skin and growling deeply against his naked flesh. It was as if all the interaction going on was confusing Genesis's body on what he was enjoying the most. He wanted to let Sephiroth know that he enjoyed the kisses and the thrusting, but there was no way for him to communicate it at all. His mind felt too high and flustered with the sensual moment to be able to say anything. Sephiroth's hand then slid down the sides of Genesis's ribs and settled against the firm hips, getting a good grasp on them while he playfully kissed the boy. His partner was already lifting his rear up, trying to spread himself open further for better access. It was an involuntary action from Genesis. The feeling was just too great. The ramming of Sephiroth's cock had to be felt completely and deeply, and Genesis's body seemed to want more and more of that. Sephiroth took the invitation and continued his thrusting, the feeling was so natural and uplifting to move his hips in such a way. It was something he truly never experienced before, and now he was feeling the urge to continue the rocking as the thick muscles would tense and relax against his manhood. As the motions became repetitive Sephiroth started to pick up his pace, driving harder into Genesis so that the end of his tailbone could be felt coming into contact with him harder than usual. Genesis clenched the bed and closed his eyes, moving himself against Sephiroth to get the fullest thrusts. He was breathing hard, the throbbing inside him was hard to not enjoy. His sensitive areas took it all in, feeling each throb as if it were a shockwave, reverberating it to the rest of his body, yearning for him to react. When Sephiroth had gone faster it was just too much, and Genesis started to let out louder gasps, moans of complete satisfaction escaping him with each heavy, deep thrust that entered him. He wasn't thinking of acting anymore. The actions just happened and he had no control over them.

Sephiroth wished he could allow Genesis to continue with his pleasurable noises, but the boy was getting too loud. Someone might hear him. He had to stop and he shoved Genesis onto his back, bending his leg up and onto his shoulder. While he entered he covered Genesis's mouth with his own and muffled another moan. Sephiroth kept up his pace and was able to smother the noises very well until his thrusts hit the right spot and Genesis let out several loud gasps of pleasure, the redhead didn't even try to hold himself back from the cries of the orgasm he had. Hearing those noises sent chills down Sephiroth's spine. But it wasn't from fear, it was as if a wave of euphoria just hit him and his body was having difficulty reacting to it. Soon after that Genesis came hard and his stomach got covered in his own mess, the creamy white substance speckled against his hard abdomen. Sephiroth felt it against himself as well, and he allowed his stomach to brush Genesis's to rub in the fluids. His actions soon set him off as well. The redhead gave another moan of pleasure, though Sephiroth was wearing a condom, he could feel the warmth growing...

Sephiroth felt his muscles burn with pleasure after the nice release and he gently lapped up some sweat that was on Genesis's chest, his kisses circled each nipple before making their way up to his lover's lips. It was a salty kiss, but sweet and zesty to Genesis.

"Sephiroth," Genesis whispered into the 1st class SOLDIER's neck, the hairs on the back of the silver-haired figure's neck started to rise. "Sephiroth, I love you."

It was good to hear those words while they experienced each other, and Sephiroth gave Genesis's full lips another lusty, salty kiss. "I love you, too."

When the fire started to die down between them and the exhaustion settled in, Sephiroth couldn't help but think about his decision to keep Genesis. He could only hope that they could stay together. He didn't want this experience to fall into shame…because it was one experience that he wanted to relive many times…

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

It wasn't until a month later that Lazard had news for Genesis and Angeal. The two were standing in his office waiting. So far, Genesis and Sephiroth's relationship continued to stay intimate and close. It seemed they were finally happy with what they had together, even if they ran risk of getting caught. Angeal had been surprised that Sephiroth kept Genesis around, and he had apologized to Genesis for acting so harshly toward him in such a situation. It seemed things were finally looking up for the trio…

"I have excellent news for you two. It's been awhile since Shinra has thought of upgrading the ranks. We've been taking our time analyzing everyone's portfolios to see if anyone is capable of being promoted. You two, of course, are on the list. It's been discussed between the President and myself for quite awhile, and we've decided that the two of you will go on a mission together. It won't be a normal mission. I've decided a simulation test will easily prove just as reliable as if it were real. If you two get to the end and finish the mission, you will be upgraded to 1st class." He smirked as he saw the hunger in their eyes. "I'm glad to see that both of you are prepared for such a promotion. Now please, head to the training room. It'll be monitored and we'll be watching carefully for any errors, so do think things out carefully." He nodded, "Now go."

Angeal and Genesis looked at each other before escaping the room.

Lazard waited for awhile before he smiled, "Okay, Sephiroth, they're gone." He watched as Sephiroth moved out of the hiding space he was told to stay at. "You heard everything."

"Yes…but what does it have to do with me?"

"They're going into a simulated area. They're supposed to fight a fake version of yourself at the end, but Hojo said that the one he created wasn't sufficient enough. I want you to go in and pretend to be a simulation." Lazard looked directly at him. "Trust me. It'll be a good test for them."

"I suppose simulations don't talk all that much…"

"Not all the time. Just fight your hardest, they will be." Lazard laughed. "They'll think you're a computer, they're going to try and obliterate you."

"It'll be an interesting battle, then," Sephiroth remarked.

"Head down and talk to Hojo. He'll tell you when they're ready for you."

Sephiroth had left the room prepared for battle.

Genesis stepped into the training room and he heard Hojo's voice call out over the speakers. "Try not to do anything too stupid. I dock points quite quickly if I don't like what you're doing."

_Yeah, I bet he would. That jerk. I forgot how much I hated Hojo. I'll get into 1__st__ class no matter what. A simulated test? Whatever, I was expecting a real challenge. Data programming won't be able to stop me from reaching the top. I can't believe this is happening like this…it's as if I'm dreaming. But…I'm not. I can't wait to tell Sephiroth as well, I bet he'll be glad to hear that I did the test today. And if I pass, which I know I will, it means we have more time together. Just thinking about it gives me the greatest high…_

_Hmm…I wonder if he'll want to 'celebrate'? Haha. I bet he would. I wouldn't mind fucking again, he's so good at it for being a complete amateur…_

"Genesis, stay focused," Angeal remarked kindly to him. "If we work together, we can pass this."

"I know that. I'm hardly worried."

Angeal snorted, "That's what worries me…"

The room shot a blinding light over them and the ceiling above soon turned a deep blue, glittering in spots that soon turned into stars. The hard metal ground started to sprout the deep green grass, and the moon crystallized right before them. It was silent aside from the chirps of crickets and a soft rush of wind that brushed Genesis's hair to the side.

"Look over there," Angeal remarked as a building materialized into position, men were outside guarding it.

"Vanquish all the people inside," Hojo's voice called out to them from the heavens above. Almost as if he was a God. The very thought made Genesis crack a smile.

_That crazy bastard probably wishes he was God. Though, in this simulation he very well could be. He has all the puppets of data that he created… But it isn't the same as the real thing. As beautiful as the trick may be, it is just that. A trick. He can throw what he wants at me, I will destroy it all if I have to._

They took shelter behind a rock and they quickly discussed what to do. "You jump in for an attack, I'll run after. You're good at being distracting," Angeal whispered.

Genesis snorted but concurred. "Okay." He leapt into action and surprised the guards. He was somewhat shocked that they were able to block the swings from his sword. He tried to set one on fire, but the man had a magic ward on. _I see, they're all amped up on everything. This might actually be a challenge!_ Angeal had soon joined him and they battled separately against the guards until they had fallen down and perished.

"Huh…" Angeal murmured, "That was unsuspecting."

"Yeah. The enemy has never been smart enough to get their hands on wards."

"Well…one day they might. This is good practice. Come on." They entered the building and their eyes took in the metallic floor, walls, and ceiling. "Cozy."

Genesis chuckled, "Yeah. It's better if we don't split up, especially if they're all going to be stronger than usual. Where should we start?"

"Let's take a left. We should try and clear all the floors."

"Right." Genesis and Angeal went rushing in and continued their blood bath, though there was no blood. It was another thing that Genesis was disappointed about for the graphics. People just disappeared. That wasn't how it was like in real life. Yet he didn't complain, Hojo probably would dock points for him being a whiney bitch.

They had reached the lower level and cleared a path, their bodies were starting to become exhausted. The enemy was amped up far greater than what should be normal, as if they were fighting against their own comrades. _That'd be an interesting situation if Wutai started to have mako induced warriors come after us. I wonder how that would work out for them? And the war…would it finally end?_

"That's the last room," Angeal pointed. "How are you doing?"

"I'm good, I'm ready for what's up ahead."

"If it's a machine use magic. If it's a group of people, let's go back to back. If there's one person…you go for the front, I'll get them from behind."

Genesis nodded, "Okay, sounds good."

Angeal smirked, "Now let's get our reward." They rushed in and stopped as the place was empty. Their eyes searched the room and they wondered if they had entered the wrong room. Wasn't this the end?

"Where are they?" Genesis questioned as he stepped in further.

Something from above made a noise and they looked up. Sephiroth descended and landed before them gracefully, his Masamune was held carefully in his left hand, his burning green eyes opened up slowly to stare at them. A slight smile curled onto his lips.

Genesis backed up slightly. These graphics looked good. But he wondered if it matched up to Sephiroth at all? His eyes went over to Angeal. "I guess we're supposed to kill him?"

"Yeah, that's what I'm figuring as well. At least it's just data, it can't be that hard," Angeal commented.

Sephiroth listened to the two and he did feel worried. Whose idea was it to allow this to happen? They would have to realize that someone was going to get hurt in all of this. Unless he could avoid getting hit by both of them and slowly wear them out. He couldn't hurt them…at least, he didn't want to.

"Remember what I told you," Angeal hinted at Genesis before he rushed forward.

"Right behind you," Genesis replied and launched himself into the air.

The battle started quite surprisingly. Sephiroth hit back Angeal and had to defend against Genesis as he came down onto him. He thrust the boy away and sent a blast of magic after both of them before rushing in after. He quickly unsettled Angeal and had knocked him over before he had to block blasts of fire coming from Genesis. The redhead had copied his move and was charging right at him. Swiftly Sephiroth leapt up in the air and somersaulted behind the boy, thrashing his Masamune through the air and slicing the back end of Genesis's clothes. The straps came off and Genesis struggled to get the loose armor from himself while Angeal went in for the time being. Their blades struck several times, but Sephiroth had kept Angeal at bay until Genesis came back into the game. He crashed his sword hard into Angeal's and had sent him smashing into the redhead.

The two were pretty shaken up. This battle wasn't like the training they were used to. Was this machine able to die? "I can't get behind him," Angeal huffed, "We'll have to both fight him at the same time. He can't block both of us. Don't take turns, got it?"

"Right. Let's show him a thing or two."

They bolted forth and fire came swirling from both of their hands. Sephiroth sliced his blade through it, his heart started to rush as he felt both blades impact against the long blade of his Masamune. He felt himself be pushed back, his muscles tensed at the force as he had to hold against two people that were just as powerful as him. Genesis's blade came for his legs and Angeal's was moving for his neck. He defended against the one coming for his head, valuing his life far more than his limb. He tried to jump out of the way, but the rapier sliced right into his right leg, dragging against his boot and digging into his flesh. Sephiroth quickly shot as much magic as he could at the two so he could back himself up and regain himself. His flesh was showing and blood oozed from the wound he acquired. Instead of stopping he went forth and aimed for cornering one of them at a time. His blade clashed loudly against Genesis's rapier and had forced it from his hands. The Masamune licked through the air and sliced against Genesis's chest.

"Ow, fuck!" Genesis hissed and he backed away, moving for his blade, "Angeal…"

"Be careful," Angeal shouted at Genesis as he went for another strike at Sephiroth. It was quickly deflected and he jumped back just in time as Sephiroth's blade came through the air to strike him. "Remember how we fought in Banora when using just knives?"

"Yeah?" Genesis replied as he got back up, twirling his sword into a better position.

"Let's try that."

Genesis nodded and he hunkered into position, "It's worth a shot." He rushed forward and loosely sliced his blade for Sephiroth's chest but the man moved back. He kept coming forward, loosely moving around, though it was graceful as if like a dance. He collided his blade into Sephiroth's and he swiftly moved under the swords, giving a high kick that nailed Sephiroth in the chest. Genesis reached at his belt and brought out a dagger, going for Sephiroth's stomach.

Sephiroth grabbed his wrist and twisted it, but he couldn't hold on for long as Genesis rammed his body into him. He staggered back and had to defend against Angeal's sword as it came through the air right at him. He had thrown his blade! What was he thinking?

Angeal came rushing in and slugged Sephiroth in the jaw before grabbing his sword and rammed it between the man's legs. Sephiroth found that one too close of a call so he blasted Angeal back with magic before trying to get out of the terrible situation. Yet he had to defend against Genesis who was trying to slice his legs off while he was stuck there. He sliced as hard as he could against Genesis's arms and watched as he finally backed off to get a better glance at his wound. Sephiroth stepped over the blade between his legs and pulled it out of the wall. Unfortunately it had ripped up his coat, but he at least had more than one. It looked like this one was going to get scrapped…

"Let's end this, Angeal," Genesis hissed as the blood started to pool on his arms.

The two men came forward and the three blades struck together, sparks shot out at the action. But Genesis still had his dagger in hand and he lifted it up and descended it hastily into Sephiroth's left arm. He could feel the muscles and bone scraping against the dagger, but that wasn't what sent chills down his spine. It was the fact that the data had shouted in pain. Angeal and himself both jumped back at the noise, their nerves felt shaken. "Did he just…?"

"Yeah he did…"

Genesis looked at his dagger and found it gleaming in the crimson blood. "But…the others never bled…"

Angeal looked at the blade before taking in the Sephiroth before him. His leg was cut up, his arm was bleeding, and he clearly looked hurt. "Sephiroth?"

The world around them shattered and they were back to standing in the training room. Sephiroth was still standing there holding his arm as the blood carried itself onto the hilt of the Masamune and dripped down the blade. For a minute there neither Angeal nor Genesis could say anything until Genesis stepped forward. "They said it was simulated, they didn't say you were…going to be in here…" He reached out for Sephiroth's arm, "Let me help you—"

"Back off," Sephiroth snapped at him. By this time Hojo had finally entered in and he was looking rather smug.

"My my, you boys did quite the number on the 1st class hero, now didn't you? Wounded again. You're about as worthwhile as a cripple, Sephiroth. It's a good thing the President wanted to replace you with these two men, they seem to have a better hold on themselves than you."

Genesis didn't know how he felt about that. He…could replace Sephiroth? He had always wanted the spotlight. But replacing Sephiroth? He never imagined it like that. He had ignored his own wounds as the battle between Sephiroth and Hojo continued. Although, it seemed as if Sephiroth just took Hojo's words in and said none in return.

"It's a pity, really. You were quite the favorite. But no matter…I can see that the President knows how to pull you out of the crowds and can dispose of you quite easily. Seems you're past your prime." Hojo cackled at the joke. "You might want to look for a new job."

Sephiroth finally moved from the training room, ignoring Hojo and the others completely. He wasn't going to stand around and let Hojo snipe at him like that…not while he was hurt.

When Sephiroth left Hojo sighed and looked at the other two, "Well, that was quite a messy battle. You did notice the improvements on the guards, at least. I can finally analyze this data and figure out what's wrong with it. And perhaps, finally get the data on Sephiroth working."

"What about if we passed?" Genesis asked impatiently.

"Hmm? Oh. Lazard was watching, you have to talk to him about that. I wouldn't bother, I think you two did terribly."

Angeal and Genesis glanced between each other before heading out. Hojo always made it sound worse than it usually was…

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

Sephiroth had his coat removed and his pant leg rolled up, the boot removed as well while a few nurses wrapped up the wounds. He had left the training area, but Lazard had followed him quite easily enough. The man didn't say anything until the nurses were finished and had left the room. The blonde brushed a piece of his hair out of his face before fixing his glasses, his eyes settling on Sephiroth's body language before he continued. He could tell Sephiroth wasn't in a talkative mood, but Lazard had to break the news. "They're going to get promoted, as you can tell. They did quite well against you. But that's not what I followed you here for. I wanted to tell you that your secret isn't much of a secret anymore."

Sephiroth glanced at the door to make sure no one was around before he dragged his eyes back to Lazard, "What secret?"

"Genesis and you. Rumors have been flying around, but no one ever believes those. Now you've been seen and heard. It's obvious what you two do together." Lazard crossed his arms over his chest. "I'd tell you to stop, but that wouldn't get any type of response from you. But I'm going to warn you about something. Now that Genesis is going to be 1st class, his schedule is going to be closer to yours. It's obvious you two would like that. But you still want to keep yourselves from the media. I don't think Genesis will be able to do that. You know him quite well. He's a talker and he's a big flirt. He'll like the spotlight, and if he needs to he'll tell everyone what you two are like to each other. It'll mean more attention on him, and it'll swing a lot of your viewers onto him. You've seen how cruel he can be in battle," he pointed at the wounded left arm that Sephiroth brandished. "Think about your reputation and your career. He can replace you. Do you really want that? And really…you have no other place to go, Sephiroth. Shinra's Headquarters have been your only home. If he takes over the roost, what will you be able to do?"

Sephiroth didn't say anything in response as Lazard had laid it flat for him. All he could do was get rid of Genesis…but could he really do that? He hadn't known it was him…but it wasn't as if he followed after to make sure he was fine.

"I appreciate your concerns, but we're not together. Genesis can do what he wants as a 1st class SOLDIER. I don't care. And I never will. Whatever has been heard or seen is just a lie. I would like it if you would discontinue assuming that there's something between us. Now if you don't mind, I want to lie down, so if you're finished I'm going to leave."

Lazard kept his eyes on Sephiroth as the man had put his boot back on. "Pretend all you want to me, but give it a serious thought." Lazard left the room first and Sephiroth was by himself.

Could…any of it be true?

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

Sephiroth stayed in the safety of his room, but he was bothered by one person, and that was Genesis. He had knocked on the door and came in looking happy as ever, but Sephiroth was far from happy.

"Hey, I made it to 1st class! Aren't you proud of me?" Genesis stopped before him and smirked, "Maybe I can cheat the rules, too, and wear something different?"

Sephiroth didn't look at him.

"We could celebrate if you're up for it." Genesis noticed there was no response. "Sephiroth? You okay? I hope we didn't hurt you too badly. And the things Hojo said, don't believe him."

"I don't want to talk right now."

Genesis felt put down by those words. He just got promoted and Sephiroth was in a terrible mood. What could he even do about that? "Okay…" He hesitated, "Sephiroth…um. Do you want me to leave?"

Sephiroth sighed and he turned his eyes onto Genesis. "Lazard knows everything. So does the entire building. Genesis…I don't know what to do."

Genesis was struck by that. For not talking it seemed he had spilled the beans pretty quickly. "Oh. Well…" What to even say to that? "I guess I can see why you're upset." Genesis folded his arms over his chest, "Did…you want to take a break?"

"I'm uncertain." Sephiroth pointed for him to sit and he waited for Genesis to get adjusted before he continued. "Things…just started to get really serious between us. I don't want that to mean nothing…but I can't stand around and let the rumors continue."

"I…understand. We can just…cut down the time we see each other by a lot."

"That will be hard considering we're 1st class. Our schedules are going to be rather similar."

"Well, Angeal can keep me preoccupied. If anyone asks why we're not together, the obvious answer would be that we don't have to scrape for time to hang out. It'll make it seem more like we're friends and we were only together because our schedules clashed."

"I…suppose that could work." Sephiroth looked away from him, though. "Genesis. You're not going to tell anyone, are you?"

"Of course not. What would that gain for us?"

"You'd gain popularity I imagine."

"I'm 1st class now, that'll get me enough popularity. I don't need to confuse my fans with relationships."

"I see. Well…I just wanted to make sure. Lazard talked to me. I denied everything, but I feel as if he knows far better than anyone else."

"Yeah…" Genesis sighed. "At least the break will…I don't know, let us do other things. I'm not sure what. I'm trying to stay optimistic."

"We're still together…it's just like a vacation. I'll talk to Lazard to get me another mission, or something—"

"Then it'd be obvious why we're not together. We should just let things happen naturally. We don't have to force each other away."

"Like I said…I don't know what to do."

"Okay. Let me do the thinking. After tonight I won't visit you for a week. At least, I won't come here to your room. I imagine it's okay to eat together, especially since Angeal will be with us. And any missions we might have together, but we should try to keep ourselves preoccupied. I think I'll try helping Angeal with training the lower ranked men."

Sephiroth thought about what he should do. He was never an active person in socializing with the others. "That's good, I wasn't planning on helping anyone."

Genesis laughed, "You're funny. You'll at least know what not to do in case you get bored."

Sephiroth sighed and gave a curt nod. "Right. You should go now."

Genesis rose from his spot and he leaned over, kissing Sephiroth on the lips. "We'll get through this."

"Right." Sephiroth watched Genesis leave the room. It took him awhile, but as he sat there he started to hope that…it really would work. His heart already felt pained in thinking that it really would break them apart….

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

Avoiding Sephiroth wasn't too hard to do. Ever since Genesis became 1st class he noticed that a lot of people wanted to get his attention and his help. For the first week of their small rift it seemed Genesis was handling it well, and he found that he really didn't miss Sephiroth. _It's not like I don't love him, but I'm not overly dependent on his presence. That's not a bad thing, I think? I'm sure he's doing just as well without me. Besides, this at least helps me focus on my goals here as a SOLDIER. I shouldn't have put my personal life before my career…_

And the second week Genesis wasn't bothered in going to bed in his own room. It was as if it was the beginning all over again, but this time he wasn't so hung up on Sephiroth.

When the third week came around, Sephiroth finally confronted Genesis on the distance that had developed between them. The legendary Hero asked for him to come to his room and he agreed, assuming that it wouldn't look bad to anyone that might have noticed. Yet, once he saw Sephiroth's expression he had a feeling that it was going to be about something bad.

"What's up?" Genesis asked him curiously.

"Genesis…" Sephiroth stared him in the eyes. "We're drifting."

Genesis folded his arms over his chest, "You were worried that we were going to get caught. Now you're complaining we're too far apart. We can't sustain both things, Sephiroth."

"I know." Sephiroth took his time in talking to Genesis, he seemed lost in his thoughts. "Look…I…I think we should pick one way or the other. I don't want to be hung up waiting, and I don't want to feel obligated to hiding all the time. We're either together or we're not…"

"Are you saying…that you want to decide to break up to stop this rift between us? Or that we forget about hiding and we stay together no matter the rumors?"

"Essentially…yes. I'm tired of thinking we're together when we're not together at all. It's been several weeks…"

Genesis nodded, "Yeah. Well…what do you want to do? Do you want to be with me or…not?"

Sephiroth stared at him for the longest time. He wasn't necessarily thinking about what to choose, he was merely surprised at Genesis's words. "Why even ask me that?"

"I…am perfectly fine with either way. I mean, I don't want to pull you into a relationship if you don't want it, but I don't want to pull away if I'm what you want."

Sephiroth glared, "So you're saying you don't care."

Genesis noticed how pissed Sephiroth was getting. _Oh god, what did I say wrong? He's getting so upset…_ "I care, I just want to make you happy."

But Sephiroth didn't believe him. "Genesis, we've been together for over a year and you're telling me that it's okay if I decide to end it? After what we've done together?"

"You don't have to get upset, I want to stay together, I just—"

"It sounds like you feel perfectly fine if we did break up."

"That's not even what I meant, Sephiroth. God, you're blowing this out of proportion. I do want to stay together, but I couldn't tell if you were feeling far better without me around. Now you're snapping at me just because I want to please you."

"You're acting like your feelings don't matter in this decision."

"I'll recover."

"See? You're hardly upset if I did say it's over."

"God, what do you want from me?" Genesis sniped at him. "Do you want me to beg to be with you? I don't get why you're angry at me!"

"Genesis…have you thought about me at all while we've been apart? Tell me the truth. Do you really want me back, or are you happy with your freedom?"

Genesis didn't know what to say. Sephiroth kept getting on his case he almost wanted to tell the truth, but then again, it could end really badly if he did. "I thought about you. I'm glad to have more time to do what I want, but I do miss you."

Sephiroth thought it over before he sighed and turned from Genesis. Now he wasn't sure if he wanted him back or not. The break wasn't bad at all, and when they had met up they had fun being together with Angeal. It seemed like they were already fighting just being in each other's presence without the third party member. "I'm not sure if I want you back or not anymore."

"You changed your mind just because I wasn't dying to get in your pants? That's stupid."

Sephiroth felt so revved up by those words. "Excuse me?"

"You seemed pretty hooked on being with me until you consulted me on my feelings…"

"You know what? Maybe being away from each other is the best thing. It seems we don't get along well enough to be more than just friends."

Genesis wasn't surprised by that but he had to blow up anyway, "See? God. Whatever. You know, I don't need to deal with this crap. I'm glad it's over."

Sephiroth's heart sunk, "You really mean that?"

"Well yeah, you just bitched me out for no reason and dumped me because of a stupid reason. If I knew you were going to be childish about this I wouldn't have even wasted my time."

"You know, you didn't even bother trying to get me to change my mind. Do you really not care how we end up? I thought that you'd at least voice your feelings—"

Genesis groaned, "So it's my fault we're not together? Forget it. I don't want to be with you. How's that? I mean, I enjoy being with you and I enjoy having my freedom, but I'm not going to stand around and have you criticize me. I'll pick my freedom over that any day." Genesis went over to the door and left before Sephiroth could stop him.

_God. That was…I don't even know. I like him and everything, but he made it seem like it was all my fault just because I didn't assume he wanted to be with me. How could I tell? I didn't want to feel awkward if he chose to break up with me._

_Ugh. Forget it. He's already decided it's over. I'll deal._

Genesis went to find Angeal and noticed he was working with a few of the lower ranked rookies. He waited around for awhile until Angeal was finished with them. As Angeal turned to look at him he could instantly tell that Genesis wanted to talk. "Something bad happen? Your face looks funnier than usual."

Genesis didn't bother sniping at him for the joke. "Sephiroth and…" Genesis quickly checked around to see who might be listening. No one. That was good. "I just broke up."

Angeal glanced around as well before he scratched his head, "What? Why?" He waved for Genesis to follow him.

The two headed for the first floor, deciding to go grab something to eat together to discuss the issue. "He wanted to talk. He said we either were together or we weren't, he was tired of this in between crap. So I merely said 'well do you want me or don't you?' because I'm fine with dealing with breaking up. He just…exploded! Said I was impersonal, wasn't putting my own feelings in the way. It was dumb." Genesis felt so steamed just thinking about it. "And we fought until he said it was over, then I agreed it was better, then he blamed me for not changing his mind! Augh. It's so confusing. I don't know, I feel like it's good that it's over."

"Really?" Angeal asked. "You used to like him…what happened to that?"

"I do like him a lot, but I'm not going to let him walk all over me for every decision I make. I feel like no matter what I would have done he would have disagreed with me."

"Perhaps this was just a misunderstanding. The two of you will probably talk later and realize that you weren't communicating correctly. I imagine you'll be back together before you know it."

"If he stops with his attitude, maybe."

"You still like him, you're not going to let him get away."

Genesis shrugged, "I already had sex with him. He probably wouldn't want me to get away. It'd freak him out thinking that I might be the type to tell someone I've been with him."

Angeal didn't want to think about what those two had done together, but he wasn't really surprised at Genesis's open behavior on the subject. "I'm sure once he remembers how big of a mouth you have he'll be running around trying to find you."

"What if I don't want him back?"

"I don't see why you wouldn't…unless you're just doing it to spite him for blowing up at you. In which case, I only have to say that you're an idiot." Angeal sat down and waited for a waitress to come up.

"I suppose. The sex is pretty great. I mean, takes forever to get him in the mood…and timing has always been an issue, but it's usually worth the wait." He saw the disgust on Angeal's face and he wanted to pursue the topic, but he moved on. "He's a good person, too, and I do like him. I suppose if he does come around it would be stupid to reject him."

"Maybe you should step up to the plate instead?"

"What would I even say? That I'm the one who was wrong? I didn't even do anything…I can't exactly apologize for him snapping at me."

Angeal sighed, "I don't know. Say you miss bending him over a table or something."

Genesis's serious look broke into a smile, "You're…you're funny."

Angeal looked him in the eyes, "I'm just running out of advice."

"It's okay…I…I could think of something, I just find your words are always better than mine."

"That's because you say things that piss people off."

"Exactly."

They ordered their food and waited for the waitress to leave before going back to the conversation. "I'm rather surprised you two actually abided by the small break you were doing, anyway."

"Yeah. But I've been keeping myself busy with the others, so it wasn't too hard. And the three of us were always together for lunch or whatever, so it wasn't like it was much of a break."

"You two acted like normal friends in public, though, so perhaps that was the actual break. There was absolutely no intimacy."

"We were being respectable in front of you. Besides, someone could have been listening."

"Never stopped you before from saying what was on your mind."

Genesis sighed, "Yeah I guess you're right. I don't know. I can't think of what went wrong. We just…clashed. Hopefully by tomorrow or the end of the week it'll make more sense."

Angeal nodded his head, "Yeah, I hope so. I don't want to be stuck in the middle of your problems."

Genesis watched the waitress set their drinks in front of them. He could tell how badly it seated Angeal. The man was trying to be good with both of them because he was a friendly person. He never chose sides… "Don't worry…you won't be." _I promise you that._

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

It was later that day that Genesis had decided to go and talk to Sephiroth. _It was poor communication, as Angeal said. We just didn't understand each other. Things have been distant between us, we just haven't talked long enough to understand what all is going on. We can get through this…it was an accident. Maybe we'll pull together and get back together. A small huffy means nothing!_

Genesis knocked on Sephiroth's door and noticed there was no answer. "Sephiroth, it's me." He didn't get a response. Genesis waited for a minute and he glanced around. "I want to talk about what happened earlier. Is that okay?" Still no answer. Genesis wondered if he wasn't in. But usually Sephiroth left a sign to tell everyone he was out, just because he was an authoritative figure on the floor, he needed to warn people where he was at. Yet, as Genesis turned the knob it opened up. _He always locks it if he's out, so he must be in. Does he want me to go away? But how am I going to get things cleared up if I don't be persistent?_ Genesis pushed the door open and found it dark, as usual. He looked at the bed, it was a complete mess, but no body. The bathroom was empty. He edged over to the kitchen and noticed Sephiroth was inside. The man was sitting in a chair, but had his head down on the table, one hand holding onto a glass of water while the other was a support for his head. For a minute there Genesis didn't think much of it until he saw the pill bottle on the table. He picked it up. Empty. _Oh god! Did he take them all? Did he try to kill himself?_ "Sephiroth!" Genesis flipped out and shoved Sephiroth up into a sitting position, shaking him roughly. The glass of water smashed all over the floor, but Genesis didn't seem to care. "Wake up!"

Sephiroth woke up rather quickly and he shoved Genesis from him, "Do you _mind_?" He rubbed his neck, "What do you want?" He snapped at Genesis.

"You scared me!"

"Scared you? You scared me. I was sleeping." Practically shook his brains out.

"Well I thought you…overdosed or something. You always sleep in your bed, not at the table."

Sephiroth rubbed his head and glared at him, "Overdosed? On what?" He glanced at the pill bottle that Genesis showed him. "Aspirin? I ran out, I left the bottle out to remind me to go get more." He grumbled, "Which I'll need thanks to the headache you just gave me."

"Well why the hell did you fall asleep out here?"

"I came in here for some medicine, I didn't have any, so I sat down and started to drink some water. My arm hurt so I focused on something else, and I fell asleep."

"Why does your arm hurt?" Genesis questioned him, still shaken at the idea that Sephiroth could have done something stupid.

"Three weeks ago you tried to hack off my limbs, or did you forget?"

"You're not any better?"

"You stabbed my arm, it's not going to magically heal over night. I have to use it every single day."

Genesis found that they were just fighting again. "Okay, sorry. I came here to talk to you."

"I hope it's important," Sephiroth growled as he got up and noticed the mess on the floor. "Great."

Genesis looked at the mess and he started to clean it up, "Look, I just…thought we had a misunderstanding this morning. We got off on the wrong foot and just took it out on each other. It's been awhile since we've talked so I'm assuming that's why we got in such a fight."

"What didn't you get about the conversation?"

Genesis looked at him as he threw away the glass, "What do you mean? I'm merely saying that we probably didn't mean what we said…"

"From what I remember, you were glad to get rid of me. I completely understand."

"What? No. I overreacted because you put me in a tight spot."

"So it's my fault?" Sephiroth questioned him angrily.

"No! Just. Ugh, this is why we fought this morning—"

"Then what did you come here for? Did you think you'd change it all?"

"You're upset, I can tell. I just want to make sure that this is the right decision. I want to leave here knowing that by tomorrow we are either together or at least still friends…not enemies."

Sephiroth moved from the kitchen, "You wanted to be friends…"

"No, I wanted more than that." Genesis came into the room and he turned Sephiroth around to face him.

Sephiroth glared, "You wanted to have sex with me. You've already done that. Why don't you leave me alone?"

"That isn't the only thing I wanted from you, Sephiroth—"

"Yeah it is. Why else did you sleep around so much? Rufus, Lazard… then that woman back in Banora. Before we even dated you were always sexually driven. You probably think if I said yes to having you back now it'd mean you could just have more of me…"

Genesis was surprised at his words. He was a great partner in bed, but this was a bit far. "Fine. If you think I only wanted you for that then go right ahead. I wouldn't have even dated you for over a year if it was just for that! God. It's like no matter what I do or say you're always against me."

"Because I have to be."

_He has to be? What does that even mean?_ "W-What?"

"Genesis…I can't be with you. Just accept it. If it didn't have to be like that I wouldn't fight so much…"

"I don't get it. We could still be together…"

"No we can't," Sephiroth remarked sadly, but kept his firmness about him. "This morning I thought that it was possible. Who would care? It wouldn't matter, would it? But we fought. I went to Lazard. I thought we fought for a dumb reason as well. But I had to talk to someone, and since he knew and already guessed what was going on…" Sephiroth sighed. "Lazard said that if we stayed together he'd let it slip to the media. He said that Shinra would put me out on a 'permanent' mission. Do you understand what that means? I'd be out fighting until I was killed. That's a suicide mission. Even if I survived, do you know what I was threatened with? Having you demoted for your behavior and thrown out of SOLDIER. Not only that, but they said they'd allow Hojo to take on experiments on myself. I would never leave here…I'd just be shut up in a box until I died from who knows what. And you? Shamed for life from some lie." Sephiroth crossed his arms over his chest, "Of course I couldn't allow any of that."

Genesis felt depressed at his words, but he also felt angered. "You should have told me earlier."

"I don't want you fighting the system."

"Sephiroth, are you going to let them push you around?"

"Why wouldn't I? They own me."

"Is that what you really think?"

"Yes."

Genesis rubbed his temple. Not what he wanted to hear. "You deserve to be happy, no matter what everyone else thinks—"

"Genesis, I'm nothing but a puppet." Sephiroth turned his eyes onto him. "I fight. That is the only reason why I'm alive. I was raised to kill. I wouldn't be here otherwise. Leave it at that." He noticed Genesis was going to fight back but he held his hand up. "Please. Don't make it any harder than it already is."

_Ugh. Who knew breaking up had to be this messy? Who knew getting back together was this hard?_ "Fine. I won't fight. We're over and done. You can kowtow to the system all you want."

"Genesis," Sephiroth responded. "Don't fight it."

"You know…maybe the world needs a new hero? One that will open everyone's eyes to the crap we have to go through? To the lies and the deceit?" Genesis turned to look at him. "If you're not going to do it than I will."

Was that a challenge? Sephiroth couldn't believe him. "Try all you want…I won't back down. I can't back down. I was raised into this…if I stop being what they want me to be…than there is no reason for my existence."

"To them, maybe. So what if you lose your title? You'd mean something to me."

"I can't do it."

"Then don't do anything at all. I'll make it happen," Genesis growled. "Besides, it's about time you had some competition."

Sephiroth didn't want Genesis as competition, he wanted him as a friend. It was the only thing Shinra's men would allow… Now Genesis wanted to compete for being the Planet's Hero? Even if Sephiroth wanted to battle the system and its ridiculousness, he couldn't turn his back on it. If he did he'd be out of a job…and possibly his life. Did Genesis not understand that? Though Genesis was fighting for their right to do what they wanted, he was also fighting Sephiroth…

It would be a never-ending battle….

"Are we friends…or are we enemies?" Sephiroth had to know.

Genesis looked into Sephiroth's catty green eyes, the sadness conveyed in them was relevant and it struck his heart as well. He wanted to comfort him but knew he couldn't. "We're friends."

"Then please keep it that way."

"I will….nothing should get in the way of that." He grabbed Sephiroth's hand for a moment, but let go so that he could leave. "Nothing."

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

But as time moved on, Genesis started to see less of the good in their friendship. _He's merely a Hero because he's good looking and Shinra has nothing better to do with him. He gave up on us. He chose not to fight and to be with me. After what we've been through, too, I would have thought that he'd side with me in telling Lazard to cram it. No, instead Sephiroth takes the back seat to everything. He has allowed Shinra's dogs to do what they want to him. All I asked for was for him to fight with me, to fight so we could be together. He wanted us to stay together…but when it comes to fighting the only thing he's ever known? He would give up everything to keep things the way they always were._

_I wish…it didn't have to be this way. But he has given up. He is no hero! He is not going to stay there for long, he will not continue to be praised for being a lapdog! I'll be on top, I'll show the world what we really are, show them what I like and not be ashamed of it. I don't care who wants to stop me, I'll battle through them all…_

_Even Sephiroth._

Genesis sat in the simulated world with LOVELESS in his hands, his sword propped beside him while Angeal relaxed next to him. Sephiroth was at the far end of the room, the world had made it seem as if he was standing at the end of the line, either to the end of his fate…or to where he accepted his applause. Genesis preferred fate, because today he wasn't going to go easy on Sephiroth.

He slapped his book closed and set it beside him, getting off of the simulated seat he had taken and grabbed up his sword.

_I wonder how this battle will end? Sephiroth has always been great competition, but I have been getting stronger. It's clearly obvious from our last battle. How will he fair today? Will I be the victor? And who will believe me?_

_It doesn't matter. As long as I win...I can show them who has the compassion and the strife for being a true Hero._

Their battle was all out. Neither held back in trying to strike the other. At first it was friendly play, but Genesis started to get ahead of himself, the fury in his mind took over and began to play out before Angeal and Sephiroth both. Angeal had dropped back to watch the scene pan out, his mind was utterly confused by Genesis's actions. Never had he seen Genesis fight like this, and to find that Sephiroth was looking confused and angered that Genesis was fighting differently than usual.

"Someone's going to get hurt," he murmured to himself once Sephiroth started to up his game a notch. And to think that once upon a time they were together. They acted like true enemies or something.

Genesis and Sephiroth kept at it in a rage, prepared to completely slaughter each other until Angeal stepped in. _Why is he always stopping me? I don't have time for this!_ "Get out of my way!" Genesis snapped. His hand burned with magic and he started to bring it forward to blast both of them, but it only backfired. Angeal's standard blade broke and the end sliced into Genesis's shoulder.

_Fuuuuuuuck fuck fuck! That hurts so fucking badly! Oh my Goddess! Okay okay okay, keep your cool, don't show that you're in pain. We've got this handle. Hooo. Hero face, Genesis. Hero face. Ugh, God that…fucking hurts._ Genesis felt the simulated world start to disappear as he held onto his shoulder painfully, giving a few deep breaths to calm himself. _Go to the hospital wing, get it checked out. No prob, right? Things will be fine. It's a scratch. It hurts like a bitch but it'll heal._ "It's nothing. I'll be fine."

Angeal and Sephiroth watched him leave the room completely astonished how he just walked it off like that. They both felt confused and irritated at the same time how it all panned out. Was Genesis being serious? He had been so intent on fighting…

"Should we follow?"

"Yes," Sephiroth remarked to Angeal's question. "Like he's going to get away that easily."

Angeal snorted at his words. "Calm down, you two fighting is dangerous. Look at this place, anyway. It's tarnished."

Sephiroth looked around the training room and noticed a few alarms going off, sparks shooting here and there, amongst other things. "It can be fixed. Besides, that's not our problem."

"It is when they realize we've been fighting in here."

"Blame it on the lower ranked kids," Sephiroth replied casually. "I thought you knew how to play this game?"

Angeal let out a bellowing laugh, "I think I like your style. Now let's catch up before bonehead up there loses his organs or something."

"Perhaps he's standing around waiting for us to show up so he can perform a dramatic death scene?"

"You could only wish."

"Hence why I said it."

Angeal smirked and the two of them continued on their way. But when they reached the hospital area, their smiles were gone. Genesis had taken a detour it seemed. "Why didn't he come here?" Angeal questioned the boy's motives. Had he died coming this way? There wasn't any blood, though…

"The fighting. We weren't supposed to be in the training room, perhaps Genesis decided to ask for help elsewhere?"

Angeal nodded, "Right. But who?"

"Scientists. Let's go."

Sephiroth and Angeal left the hospital area and arrived at the correct floor. Sephiroth's intuition was correct. They found the lovely blood splatter going straight up to the right room. A man came out looking somewhat disheveled, not exactly up to par in scientist attire. His graying hair and beard looked unkempt like his open lab coat that exposed a tee-shirt underneath. Sephiroth hardly ever saw people wear…well…normal clothes, so he didn't find it very normal at all. He wondered who this man was, he had never talked to him before. Yet, when Sephiroth looked over at Angeal, the man looked hardly amused at the sight of him.

"Genesis, is he—"

"He's not doing well. He needs to rest, and he shouldn't be bothered."

"Is there anything we can do?" Sephiroth asked. Angeal seemed to keep silent.

"Not at the moment."

"Is it okay if we wait?"

"Be my guest, but you'll have to stay out here."

Angeal and Sephiroth took a seat and decided it would be okay to wait for awhile. Genesis shouldn't be in there for that long…

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

Genesis's trip to Hollander's lab room was merely by accident. He had ran into him on the elevator and the man had quickly told him to follow him instead. _Why did I listen to this creep again? I'm losing blood rather quickly, for some reason the wound isn't patching up as it should. The mako is doing nothing…it's like a worst case scenario here! I'm not going to die, am I? No…I couldn't. I'll recover. Hey, every time I do I seem to get stronger. I must be in top shape to face Sephiroth again. I wonder how this battle would have turned out if Angeal hadn't interrupted?_

"Hollander, why isn't it getting any better?"

The odd scientist was scurrying about once he had come back inside, grabbing up plates of glass and setting up a microscope. _Oh great, he's going to do…science things while I'm lying here bleeding to death. I knew following him wouldn't be in my best interest._ "Hollander?"

"Calm down, boy, I'm working on it." He scurried over and got some of Genesis's blood on the glass before he rushed back to his microscope. It was a long time of him standing there fiddling with the optics, but he finally gave a dreadful groan.

"Uh…is…everything okay?" _Is my blood doing funky things it shouldn't?_

Hollander pulled away from the microscope and he waved for Genesis to come over. "You should see this, because what I have to tell you is very grave."

"Grave? Just by looking at my blood?"

"You'll understand once I explain it."

Genesis went over feebly and looked into the microscope. He didn't quite understand what was going on, but as he watched a group of the swimming cells he noticed that they were…dying. "What's…going on?"

"Genesis, you should sit down before I continue." Genesis took a seat carefully to listen to Hollander. The man leaned against the counter and crossed his arms over his chest. "It seems there's something terribly wrong with your blood. You see, previously you had been wounded before and had taken in mako to help heal. As a SOLDIER, you're able to have it in your bloodstream without having too serious of side effects. But unfortunately, it seems we miscalculated. Your blood isn't like everyone else's, Genesis. I'm going to tell you something you never knew about…you might not find it believable, but you'll have to bear with me." Hollander took a minute to think it over before he nodded. "When you were in the womb, you were inserted with some special cells that were supposed to help you turn into something like Sephiroth. A…super human, you might say. But when you were born, countless tests were done that showed you had no signs of this ability. Basically, you being an experiment was scrapped. You were sent to live somewhere else by adoptive parents, and that was supposed to be the end of your story."

"Adopt…ive? What do you mean?"

"Your parents in Banora aren't actually your parents."

Genesis felt so stunned, "How…do you know this?"

"Because I'm Angeal's father. I was there when they did these experiments on you, Angeal, and Sephiroth."

"W-What? Angeal…Sephiroth? What tests?"

"Hojo and I were competing against each other twenty some years ago. We had gathered cells from what we believed was a Cetra, and decided to insert it into unborn children and see how it worked. You three were the experiments. Angeal and you were thought to have failed, while Sephiroth had started to succeed even while in the womb. You were shipped off, going back to Banora where Angeal's mother was at. You were taken in by neighbors. It was easy to watch you two that way."

"Keep going," Genesis murmured, unsure if he understood it all.

"It was a coincidence that you two wanted to come to Midgar to become a part of SOLDIER. Your test results were above average, but you weren't anything special until they analyzed your background. It's how you got your way into SOLDIER. The first time you were severely wounded and got onto mako, we ran blood tests on you. It didn't seem as if you were going to recover, but upon watching your blood after awhile, it started to change. The mako had been combining with your blood and slowing down the process of…degradation."

"Degradation?" Genesis felt so confused. "What do you mean?"

"You see, if you had been wounded and left wounded, you would have died. Every time you were hurt. But instead, we put you on mako, you started to recover dramatically because it was the only thing that was actually sustaining you. Your body is dying, Genesis, and mako has been pushing it off."

"But…doesn't everyone slowly die?" Genesis questioned him.

"Of course, but you're dying faster than everyone else. It is because of the tests you had when you were a child. It seems the cells simply don't like the host. They're trying to get rid of you, essentially. And it's working. You're at your prime right now, but after this wound you've sustained?" Hollander shook his head. "Genesis…your body is going to decay rapidly."

"Decay…as in…I'm going to get really old…really fast…and die?"

"Well, not exactly old…more of…decrepit."

Genesis felt a lump form in his throat. This had to be a joke or something. "You're not serious, are you? I mean…this whole thing…" He shook his head. "I can't possibly be degrading."

"You saw your cells, how quickly they deteriorated."

"Then give me more mako…"

"I can't. The mako isn't going to work much longer. Your body is going to become completely shut off to it."

"So what am I supposed to do? How do I heal this…wound and get back to my job?"

Hollander shook his head, "The wound will heal slowly….but as for being a SOLDIER? You won't make it. You're 1st class in title, but your fighting skill is going to plummet to infantrymen."

Genesis continued to stare at him in disbelief. "So that's it. There's…nothing.."

"I'm sorry, Genesis."

He kept sitting there thinking it was a bad dream but he couldn't wake up. This…sprung up on him so quickly. He didn't believe it. It couldn't be happening. "I have to go home…I need to talk to my parents."

"You need a blood transfusion first. If Angeal gives you some of his blood, you'll at least be somewhat more stable than you are now."

"Then give it to me."

Hollander stared at him for awhile before he rose up and moved out of the room. When he returned, Angeal was with him. They didn't talk for the longest time as the blood was being transferred, but the silence wasn't going to stay for long. "Genesis, you feeling okay? You look sick."

"It's nothing," Genesis replied, though his voice felt wavy and off. "I want to go home for a few days. I…I'm going to take a few of the lower ranked men with me."

"I don't think Lazard would agree to that—"

"He will. It won't be for too long…"

"Okay. Did something bad happen? Are your parents okay?"

"Yeah…." Genesis replied. "They're fine, I'm sure. I just want to see them. I have a few things I need to do…"

Angeal didn't pursue the subject, "Well, if you need me for anything just let me know."

"Right," Genesis replied. He thought about it and wondered if he should tell Angeal about turning against Shinra. At first it was all about how Sephiroth and him had to hide…

But now…

If Shinra had been the one funding experiments to ruin his life? He had a whole new reason to stand against them….

"Angeal…can you promise me something?"

Angeal looked over at his friend. He saw the odd look and he wondered what it could be. "Yeah?"

"Promise…that we'll be friends. No matter what happens…"

It was an odd promise. Angeal didn't understand why Genesis was getting so sentimental and dreary. He wasn't dying, the man looked rather fine aside from blood loss.

Genesis noticed the hesitation and he looked over at him, "I can't tell you right now what is going to happen, but I will. Soon. I haven't thought it all out yet, but once I know I will tell you all about it. Just promise you won't discontinue our friendship."

Angeal nodded, "I wouldn't do that. It's a promise. I'm not sure what you're babbling about or why it's got you so serious, but…I'll stand by you. Always have."

"One more thing. Sephiroth. Anything I tell you….you mustn't tell him. It's important that you don't say anything. If he needs to know he must learn these things on his own." _Perhaps…in a less burdening way as well._

"I promise."

Hollander came back over and checked the process before he finally stopped it, giving a good nod to them. "All right, you boys are set."

Genesis got up stiffly and slowly walked to the door. _To think that I used to be a boy that had dreams. My dream to be…like Sephiroth in every single way, to beat him, to show him I was just as good as him. And to learn that I once was similar to the Hero. But I am failing, as I always have been. My future is grim and unkind. I have to act quickly to get this all done. If Shinra can ruin my life…then I can ruin Shinra as well._

Genesis made his way down the hallways to ask for his leave to Banora. It may very well be the last time he'd see his home….

_And to think, Sephiroth…that we were once friends…but now we'll have to be enemies…_

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THE END

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I hope you all enjoyed this last chapter. I wasn't sure if I was going to end it without giving previous notice in another chapter, but after my break for convention stuff and coming back to it, I've realized that it seemed like a good stopping point. This has been one of my more favored fics, but I think every new fic I write I like it more because my writing is improving each time.

I'd like to explain that I try not to be TOO ridiculous with pairings. I want to give good reasons as to why characters can be together. I really don't enjoy stories that don't give more support for why a character might like another. So that is why it took fooooreeeevvvver for Genesis and Sephiroth to be together. I didn't want to betray the actual characters by being a dumb fangirl, ya know?

And I wanted to stay somewhat true to the actual plotline, as I try to do in all of my fics (unless you read my stupid ridiculous ones, or my waaay older ones)! The one thing I did notice was that I accidentally made Rufus Shinra the VP, when really he doesn't become VP until after Genesis leaves Shinra (oopsie)! I also did seem to expand the years a bit oddly, since they seemed to JUST turn 1st class and then shit hit the fan, which doesn't seem so in the game. And Genesis's attire. I felt as if had I tried to make him change his clothes it would have just turned out poorly. So I apologize for those mess-ups.

As for everything else, I did my best to try and make this conflicting and appealing to everyone. My stories almost always turn out…sad. I'm sorry for that, but it's just how I work. I try to satisfy you all and also satisfy the games plotline (so much clashing!) so happy endings don't happen very often.

I also am leaving this fic at this ending because of a few reasons. This fic is titled Friends Before Enemies. This means that this fic is entirely based on the time before Crisis Core happened. As in, when Genesis, Angeal, and Sephiroth didn't have too much conflict and could bond. Near the ending of this chapter is when Genesis finds out his past, and that was when he goes all crazy in Crisis Core. That's why I'm not continuing further, because the friendship between these three basically crashes as soon as Genesis realizes he's degrading.

So that's why that's like that.

Also, of course Sephiroth and Genesis couldn't be together forever. I know we all wished that, but in the games it's not like that. In Crisis Core, although, I had noticed Sephiroth always seemed reluctant in confronting Genesis. He wouldn't go to Banora to face him (Zack had to do it) and it seems Zack has to do a good brunt of the work since Sephiroth doesn't want to fight Genesis. That's sort of how I figured this fic worked in. There was a possibility of something deep between Genesis and Sephiroth, and Sephiroth is merely afraid to meet Genesis and find that he's changed.

Anyway, enough of my blabbering. I hope all of you liked this fic as much as I did. Please read some of my other ones. I am uncertain when I'll come up with another fic as I am going to try and focus more on writing my own material. But I do have ideas if I ever get bored or stuck.

**Please comment/review this fic.**__I appreciate all feedback. Tell me ANYTHING about this fic. I love hearing whether you liked or hated parts of it, as criticism is the best help for writers.

Thank you all again for reading this and sticking with me!


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